Adolescence
by Austin Blake
Summary: Buffy and the Scoobies are shocked to find a witch's mishap has had dire consequences on the world, including reducing the age of the entire Earth. They must join forces with Angel Investigations to right the wrongs of the sorceress, with help from an old
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the following characters...just using them for my own personal enjoyment. (Dance, puppets, dance!) They are the property of Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt, Mutant Enemy, and several other associative bodies.  
  
DEDICATION: I dedicate this story to Molly, Skyler, and all the Buffy/Angel 'shippers out there. Love is immortal.  
  
  
  
  
  
ADOLESCENCE  
Time passes and death is inescapable, but love, if we are fortunate enough to find it or create it, sustains us through it all.  
  
  
  
  
  
PROLOGUE:  
  
  
"11:58 PM. Almost time," Darien said as he glanced at his watch, maneuvering a twisted route through the skyscrapers made of crates. He was a short but stout man, aged 70 years, but his appearance suggested 40 or so. His portly build was encased in a mauve-colored ceremonial garb, lined intricately with gold weave, it's wondrous appearance drawing attention from his bald head. As he managed his way in the darkness, he happened upon a candlelit area, hidden from view by the boxes. He glanced to the floor, noting the ritual symbols in red chalk.  
  
"Damn it, Kathleen. Did it have to be in an abandoned warehouse? It's so...clichè."  
  
The woman, dressed similarly, slowly turned her diminutive form around to face him. Her eyes were sunken in with age, heavy wrinkles adorning every inch of exposed skin, some hidden by wispy white hair. She raised a frail, vein-laden hand up at him, an emaciated finger extending to silence her complaining companion.  
  
"Shut up and just do it, Darien."  
  
Darien sighed, reaching inside of his tunic, retrieving a book bound in gnarled, no doubt ancient leather and a thin pair of reading glasses. A slight glare from the candlelight hid his tired green eyes as he slipped the bifocals on. "Did you prepare the elixir?"  
  
"Of course, I am no fool!" Kathleen exclaimed, silenced by the sudden tolling of a nearby clock that stood on the small wooden table. Beside it was an eyedropper, but what went unnoticed was the bubbling pink substance that rested in an immense cauldron, big enough to contain Kathleen herself. It was obstructed from view by a bulky crate, the concoction gurgling ominously.  
  
"It's midnight! Recite! Recite!"  
  
Darien rolled his eyes, beginning to narrate several enchantments in Latin. His bowed head was immersed in the book before him, so he didn't notice Kathleen slip behind the crate. With trembling difficulty, she managed to pick up the eyedropper, lowering her deformed hand to the brew and filling the cylinder completely. She slowly shuffled back into the ritual circle, struggling to lift her hand and hold it steady at the same time. She squeezed the bulb gently, a bead of the mystical cocktail falling out. However, it missed and hit the concrete, seeming to disappear into the floor. A pink glow spread within the circle, then dissipated.  
  
On her second attempt, she was successful, catching the droplet in her mouth. She swallowed the bittersweet morsel, eyes surging with the same pink tint before returning to their normal dark hue. Darien's chanting slowly halted as the last chime sounded, his eyes lifting upon Kathleen. He heard an appalling crack, realizing that her spine had suddenly straightened. His eyes grew wide with awe as wrinkles gave way to creamy skin, new and healthy as her veins disappeared beneath the vibrant membrane. Liver spots and other blemishes vanished, her form suddenly elongating.  
  
Darien was speechless as he saw her flimsy white hair strengthen and grow, turning into lush black tresses that cascaded down her back and shoulders. Her derriere filled out and lifted, legs toning and growing longer. Breasts enlarged and rose, full and perky as nipples stood out clearly behind the fabric that had constricted around this new fit body. Hips widened, lips grew as curvy as the rest of her, long lashes accenting now-vigorous brown eyes. He stuttered as he tried to address this new creature of beauty, until his eyes caught sight of the eyedropper.  
  
"Y-You sh-should let me neutralize the rest. It can have drastic effects if overused."  
  
Kathleen grinned. "Nonsense, my dear boy. I'm young again, but I won't be forever. I plan on having a little...extra lying around. Just in case."  
  
Darien tried to speak again, but noticed his body beginning to slowly expand. "No...you...you didn't..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I was severely overweight as a youngster! You bitch, you've changed me too!" He screamed sharply as his gut burst out of the tunic, the fabric also tight on him, though in a far more unattractive manner. Massive breakouts of pimples burst out all over his now-chubby face, his plumpness spreading to even his feet. They ruptured his shoes, sending him plummeting to the floor. In his descent, he bumped into the nearby crate, which in turn crashed down upon the cauldron, causing it to topple and spill its contents. Darien watched in helpless horror as the fluid was absorbed into the earth, the faint pink radiance quickly sweeping over the entire planet.  
  
"God help us all."  
-----  
  
"Do you think she needs help?"  
  
Buffy Summers was suddenly thrown to the graveyard soil, angrily flipping back to her feet. Her green eyes blazed beneath her disheveled blonde locks as she lunged back into the fray between herself and two vampires. Xander Harris turned to his redheaded companion.  
  
"No, Willow, I think she's got it."  
  
"Still, maybe a little-..." A pink fluorescence coursed through Willow's petite body, interrupting her and almost causing her to fall. The same wave hit Xander. He blinked and shook his head, looking down at his friend.  
  
"What the hell was that?"  
  
Willow was about to respond, but noticed the blonde on the ground again, the vampires moving in on her.  
  
"Buffy!" she exclaimed, running over to help, Xander at her heels. As she got to her friend's aid and pushed the vampires away, Xander quickly tried to relieve them with a stake, but both of their bodies evaporated into thin air before he could try. They heard a meek voice say the words "Help me..." and looked down at their fallen companion. To their shock, they saw a frightened fourteen-year-old girl, who was shivering and hugging herself.  
  
Buffy looked up at her friends, tears beginning to fall from wide, innocent eyes. She slowly stood up, arms still around herself, finding that she wasn't as tall as she used to be. She also discovered that her friends were the same stature.  
  
"Somebody want to tell me what just happened...?"  
---------- 


	2. Chapter One: Adapting

CHAPTER ONE: ADAPTING  
  
  
Willow set a cup of tea down in front of Buffy, who gladly accepted it and drank deeply from it, embracing it's warmth as a false comfort for the time being. They had returned to the Magic Box after their transformation, researching the various causes - and cures - of their situation, but only found dead ends. After returning to Buffy's home, they had even gone as far to call Giles, only to find that he too had been changed, and that the altered Watcher's Council had contacted him in almost a hysterical manner, needing his expertise in finding a solution.  
  
Buffy sighed, wondering what else could go wrong with her life. Dawn hadn't been changed, which was the most puzzling thing of all. But everyone else in the world had...or at least, every adult. The news hadn't been on at first due to the initial shock, but it aired featuring a prepubescent anchorwoman. Buffy wasn't interested in hearing what she already knew. She wanted answers.  
  
"I'm sure we can fix this, Buffy. We have lots of other times."  
  
Buffy regarded Willow's assuring resolve, smiling a bit. "I know. I just can't figure out who could have done this. I mean, what's the point? We overdose on developmental hormones?" She looked over at Willow, who sat beside her with her own cup of tea. "We're in trouble, Will. I've lost my abilities. I wasn't called to be a Slayer at this age. I couldn't fight if I wanted to."  
  
"We can still hack and slash, right?" Anya chimed in.  
  
"Slice and dice, julienne style, or just basically cut. We've got plenty of sharp objects." Xander said.  
  
"Well, Giles said that there's an unnatural shortage of vampires at the moment." Willow said.  
  
"A shortage?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yeah. The spell or whatever seemed to affect them too. If they weren't turned at a young age, then they just ceased to exist."  
  
"Talk about the drawbacks of old age." Buffy's eyes widened in realization. "Spike...Angel...oh my God..."  
  
"Hey," Willow rested a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Everything will be all right. All we have to do is reverse whatever supernatural enchantment there is, and everything will be back to normal. We just have to do it before-..."  
  
"Before what?"  
  
"...before our minds catch up, or rather go back, with our bodies. And the current hormones in our body really don't help."  
  
"I've had enough teenage angst for one lifetime, thank you." Anya stated.  
  
"As have I," said Xander, " Will, anything in the Wiccan's handbook that might be helpful?"  
  
"Tara's looking into it now. I hope she's okay. She drove over there and sorta had a problem touching the pedals."  
  
"Let's hope the Munchkin doesn't crash on the Yellow Brick Road."  
  
Willow looked down, and Buffy sent a glare Xander's way. Xander knelt by his friend, holding her hand. "I'm sorry. It was a stupid joke. I'm sure she'll be fine. I was just kidding around. I'm a kidder. It's what I do. I kid. Much with the kiddage."  
  
"Okay, kidder, get up. Giles and the Council can do more than we can, especially since Giles has most of the books. We just have to sit back and see what happens."  
  
Just then, a knock came upon the Summers' door. Buffy looked over at Dawn, who was still talking to Giles, taking notes all the while. She looked at the door, hobbling over to it tiredly. As she opened it, she saw a strange boy she'd never seen before.   
  
He was tall, at least sixteen years of age, his long black duster swaying slightly in the breeze created by the colossal downpour of rain that battered him, his clothes clinging tightly to his broad form. His ensemble was as black as the twilight, form-fitting jeans and a silk shirt accenting the steep curvature of his well-developed muscles, a hint of his chiseled, stone-defined chest revealed teasingly through the top two unfastened buttons of his silken garment.  
  
His illuminant yet dark eyes, flecked with silver as if to signify all the tears the sadness of his tortured soul had caused, shone with unadulterated joy as they fell upon Buffy. His angelic features seemed so youthful now...far from his usual granite composure. He was indeed different from his normally intense and brooding manner. He lifted a steady alabaster hand, running it through his slightly unkempt yet drenched coal-black locks, standing perfectly still as he surveyed her.  
  
"I need to talk to you."  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Buffy...it's me. Angel."  
-----  
  
At the hospital, a young nurse was trying to persuade her converted associate to operate among the panic of both the patients and staff alike. She strained to talk to the doctor over the loud sobs of the hundreds of teenagers filling the hospital.  
  
"Doctor Gonzales, you have to! If you don't, she'll die!"  
  
"Look at me, woman! I'm a damn child! How can I function enough to save that girl's life when my hands are too small to precisely operate on a automobile accident victim? It's a delicate procedure and it needs someone who can assuredly do the job. There must be someone else!"  
  
"They're all breaking down, just like you. Doctor, please!"  
  
The boy held his head in his hands, weeping. Meanwhile, an adolescent Tara laid lifeless on a gurney as blood trickled from a piece of gauze on her forehead, the heartbeat recorded by the monitor above her slowly ceasing.  
-----  
  
Buffy slipped on a light blue nightgown over her head, not in the least bit bashful about her naked body being seen by Angel. She smoothed the fabric out over her curves, walking to the bed from her closet and sitting, rubbing her neck a bit.  
  
"It's a good thing Mom kept some of my old clothes handy." she said, her tone sorrowful in remembrance of her late mother. Buffy lay on her bed, her room dimly lit by the moonlight. Concealed in the shadows, though his presence comfortingly felt by Buffy, was Angel. He sat on the bed beside her, his hand rubbing her back soothingly.  
  
"I still can't believe you're here..."  
  
"Where else am I going to go?"  
  
"That's not what I meant. I mean, you. Here. Human. I don't know how to take this."  
  
"You think I do? You think I know how to react to a youth-inducing spell taking advantage of my mortal soul and melting away my vampirism? It's not everyday this happens, you know."  
  
Buffy whimpered a bit, then began to sob quietly. Angel laid beside her, his arms drifting around her waist tenderly. "I'm sorry. I don't expect you to just sweep me back into your arms, or for us to just pick up where we left off. I just...Buffy?"  
  
He peered over her shoulder, only to find that she was slowly nodding off. He bent over her body and gently touched her cheek with the back of his hand. "Buffy," he murmured.  
  
Immediately she opened her eyes as if she'd been expecting him. "Angel." She smiled sleepily. "You're here." Hovering over her, handsome as ever even in his reacquired youth, watching over her with that slight smile that just begged to be kissed, he seemed a perfect product of her dreams, more real than ever before. Exhaustion washed over her, ebbing and flowing like a gentle wave on a beach.  
  
"I'm going downstairs...to sleep on the couch..." His voice seemed to come from far away. With an effort, she whispered, "No, sleep here. Don't leave me." Utterly exhausted, Angel looked at her sleeping form and sighed. The snowy linens on the bed looked infinitely inviting.  
  
~I'll just sleep for a few hours~, he promised himself, ~then leave before she wakes up.~  
  
Easing down on the bed, he tried to pretend Buffy wasn't there, attempting not to attach himself and take advantage of their situation. The sensation of the cool pillow against his cheek was welcomed bliss, and sleep came instantly.  
  
From the sweet, dream-tingled depths of sleep, Angel became aware that he was hot and uncomfortable in his clothes, unused to having a body temperature. Removing them was a simple reflex; he didn't even have to wake up to pull them off, drop them on the floor, and lie back again. Then, savoring the breeze that caressed his bare skin, he let the current of sleep pull him under again.  
  
Later, the air grew cooler, and Angel and Buffy both sought warmth instinctively, gravitating towards each other as they lay on their sides. At first Angel was only dimly aware when a warm back touched his chest. But then, as Buffy snuggled closer, her derriere molded itself against his hips. Dreaming, he felt his manhood growing warm, aided by newly resurrected hormones. It brushed against his upper thigh as it hardened, twitching slightly with each beat of his heart. A hot, pulsing need began to build within him. Through the gossamer confection of her nightgown, Angel could feel the warmth of her flesh, and involuntarily he tensed the muscles in his loins. A jolting surge of lust left him fully erect. He was burning.  
  
The veils of sleep were lifting one by one, but this had to be a dream. When she snuggled closer, Angel pressed himself against the delicate niche that bisected her fanned bottom and clenched his teeth as a chill rushed from the base of his neck down his spine to fan the fires of his arousal. His eyes flew open as reality intruded, but he was powerless now to quell the feelings that held him in their grip.  
  
Buffy was dreaming that she and Angel were lying beneath the tree near her mother's grave. It was growing cold, and she liked being held and protected by his hard male body. The contrast between them felt good. The place between her legs was tingling pleasantly, like her breasts. This time she didn't want to wake up...didn't want the feelings to go away.  
  
Angel ached with hunger. He touched his mouth to the baby curls at the back of her neck, nuzzling, breathing in the scent of her soft skin and fresh-washed hair. Driven by instinct, Buffy pressed her hips against him and moaned softly. She moved again and again, sighing as she instinctively sought the hard male member that fit so perfectly against her.  
  
At last, Angel lifted his right hand and placed it ever so gently at her hip. He swallowed a moan when he discovered that Buffy's gown had slipped up nearly to her waist on that side, so he was caressing bare, satiny skin. Tentatively he rested his palm on her hip and let his fingers curve into the hollow of her belly. On fire, he held his breath, afraid that she would both awaken and stop him, awaken and let him continue, or that she would sleep on and condemn him to the madness of his desire. At that moment, Buffy's thighs parted slightly, her right leg slipped backward between his, and Angel was utterly lost.  
  
He heard her breathing quicken and recklessly slid his hand beneath her nightgown. Buffy continued to press rhythmically against him as his agile fingers played upward until they grazed the ripe curve of one breast. She was so warm, so eager, but he held himself back, lightly tracing circles around her breast with his fingertips. Finally, he took the soft nipple between his thumb and forefinger, rolling it gently as it puckered, his inhibitions restrained by his now-phantom curse.  
  
Buffy was swimming in a sea of sensitized pleasure, half-awake but unwilling to release the dream. Tingling darts of arousal were shooting from her nipples to her loins, and she could feel her breasts swelling, becoming fuller and warmer, in Angel's deft hands. In the mists between sleep and consciousness, her carefully tended reserves were stripped away, for the second time allowing her body to revel in the passions of womanhood with her darling Angel. Somewhere in her sleep-hazed state of mind, she realized that she was untouched territory again, and was giving herself to him for the first time all over again...and could think of no one she'd rather experience this union with. When Angel's fingers slid downward, then pressed with consummate skill against the hidden source of her arousal, Buffy moaned and turned in his arms.  
  
Her hunger, suppressed for so long, would be denied no longer. This time she wouldn't flee from her desires, nor would they be refused by some ancient hex. In the darkness, her mouth sought Angel's, opening to receive his tongue, while her arms wound round his neck. After an eternity of ravenous kissing, nibbling, tasting, he reached down to slip the nightgown over her head. Then, drawing back, he studied her in the moonlight. Her face, tanned against the golden spill of her hair, was turned to one side. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth was open, and he recognized the telltale cadence of her breathing.  
  
"Beautiful," he murmured, and bent to trail his fingertips over her throat, shoulders, the lush curves of her breasts, the hollow of her tummy, her hips, her lithe legs...carefully, he avoided the place he knew ached to be touched. Buffy stretched and writhed beneath his hands, then moaned as Angel began to retrace her body with his lips. He found the rejuvenated pleasure points that had only been discovered once upon a time, and a few that had been neglected of his intimate contact until tonight: the back of her neck, her spine, the small of her back, the tender insides of her elbows, her wrists, her palms. With lips like butterfly wings, he kissed along her sides, then gently sought the delicate rosebud nipples of her breasts. She sank her fingers into his hair as he sucked slowly on the first one and then the other, excited beyond belief by her gasps of pleasure. At last he moved lower, kissing the arches of her feet, then taking her toes into his mouth one at a time. Buffy undulated helplessly above him. His lips trailed fire up her calves, lingering on the backs of her knees, then nipping sensuously on her inner thighs. When he reached the soft dark tangle of curls between her legs, he paused, then blew softly. Buffy arched her hips in response, allowing him to see how moist and swollen she was and he could smell the faint, musky scent of her desire. Bending, he pressed his lips to the core of her femininity, and almost instantly she strained upward and began to shudder, panting. Angel positioned himself above her, eyes glittering in the pale light of the waning moon. He could wait no longer.  
  
Buffy cried aloud as the exquisitely pleasurable contractions swept out from between her legs, sending shimmering waves of delight through her entire body. A warm glow settled over her, overcoming the certain awareness that what had just happened was no dream. Angel's face was now above her own, and their eyes met. He braced himself, one hand on either side of her and Buffy reached out to touch his shoulders and the soft, cozy warmth that now made it's home in the marble of his chest. The feeling of his lean-muscled body, so different from hers, and the heartbeat that pounded through his torso to her fingertips, excited her. She drew herself up to nuzzle his neck. He smelled of leather and rain and a trace of hair gel, but most intoxicatingly, he smelled of Angel. When she whispered his name aloud, he smiled down at her.  
  
They kissed then, commingling wonder and passion between their lips, and Angel lowered himself between her legs. His state of arousal was beyond any he could remember, and Buffy was warm and moist against him. Cautiously, he entered her. Encountering a thin barrier, he withdrew a little and began again. He pushed forward gently, paused, then pushed again, savoring the pulsing rush that came with each movement. As hot as he was, Buffy was even hotter inside. Angel took her virginity as tenderly as he could, feeling her constrict even more tightly around him at the first shock of penetration. After this initial reaction, however, she relaxed and arched her hips to meet his. He was wary at first, but gradually Buffy's own rhythm increased, and together they began to soar.  
  
Buffy was astonished by her own passion. The sensation of Angel's thrusts deep within her, the sight of his taut silhouette above her in the moonlight, masculine at even this age, sent fire coursing through her blood. Instincts she hadn't known she possessed were freed by the merging of their bodies. Angel cupped her buttocks in his hands, and Buffy wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to his wide back as they rode higher and higher together, their bodies gleaming with perspiration.  
  
~This is wonderful~, she thought, tears stinging her eyes.  
  
At last Angel arched his back, froze for an instant, then let out a long, low groan. They lay together, panting, their faces side by side. Buffy felt him pulse slightly inside her and tightened her own muscles in response, embracing him. Warm currents of absolute contentment washed over her. Softly she ran her fingers down the tapered sides of Angel's back. She smiled against the side of his face. Slowly he withdrew and laid at her side, satisfied to have her nestle her head onto his chest. He lifted her hand and gently kissed each delicate finger.  
  
Giddy with pleasure and a sudden wave of fatigue, Buffy beamed, tenderly placing a few kisses on his chest. "I love you, Angel," she whispered, smiling radiantly before closing her eyes.  
  
Angel smoothed the damp yet silky blonde strands from her brow and drank in the sight of her face, more peaceful than he had ever known it to be. Her long flaxen tresses brushed her cheeks, and her lips were so full and tender looking. He felt his heart clench, knowing that this youthful reverie would have to end one day. He placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead, lulled to sleep by her heartbeat against his own.  
-----  
  
"Tara didn't come home last night," Willow said, tears beginning to cloud her eyes. She had called everyone to the Magic Shop in hopes of finding her lost significant other. "I didn't get any sleep. I just sat there, waiting for her to come home." She lowered her head to hide her sorrow, whimpering softly. "We have to do something."  
  
"Okay," Angel said, "Everyone split up, check any of Tara's friends, acquaintances, anyone who might have seen her last, maybe try and confirm something with the local hospitals...she might turn up somewhere. Check with the police, fire department, the whole nine yards. It's not that big of a town, someone has to have seen her. Maybe you can go research any demons that might be at their most active at such a young age. They might be taking advantage of the mass hysteria that's going around-..." He caught everyone's blank stares at him. "...what?"  
  
"Anything else, Captain?" Xander retorted, blinking.  
  
"Sorry. Force of habit." Angel crossed his arms, listening attentively as he attempted to shake off the awkward effect of his commands. "What do you suggest?"  
  
"Actually, those weren't bad ideas," Buffy said.  
  
"Said the boinkee," Xander replied, lifting his eyebrow. "Or were you the boinker?"  
  
"There was equal boinkage." Buffy said, turning towards the door. "Now let's go."  
  
"They boinked?" Anya asked.  
  
"You guys go and call me here if you find anything." Angel said, walking behind the counter to the telephone. "I have to call L.A., check up on things."  
  
"When did they boink?" Anya inquired, nudging Xander, who didn't seem interested in answering the question.  
  
"Okay," Buffy said as everyone walked out, leaving her to bring up the rear. Just as she was leaving, she heard Angel call her name.  
  
"Buffy..."  
  
Buffy turned to face him in the doorway. "Yeah?"  
  
"Be careful." Angel smiled slightly.  
  
Buffy returned the smile, striding over to him and placing a kiss on his lips before backpedaling toward the door, reluctant to take her eyes from her sweetheart. "You too."  
  
As they left, Angel dialed the number to Angel Investigations. Back at the Hyperion Hotel in Los Angeles, a cheerful yet meek tone with a distinctive Southern drawl greeted him.  
  
"Angel Investigations, we...we...we help people!"  
  
Angel smiled. "Hey, Fred."  
  
"Angel!" Fred answered excitedly, "Is...is that you?"  
  
"Sure is."  
  
"You sound..."  
  
"Younger?"  
  
"I was going to say cuter, but younger is okay too. Less embarrassing for me. Oh my, I'm embarrassed anyway! Maybe I should turn the air conditioner on. It's really warm in here. Do you feel it? Oh, of course you don't, you're two hundred miles away! Silly me...is it warm there too? I bet it is, being California and all. I'm rambling on and on...when are you coming home?"  
  
Angel couldn't help but grin at the childlike dialogue on the other end of the line. He chuckled a bit. "Soon, Fred. Soon."  
  
"Since you're all...you know, human...does she....does she like it?"  
  
Angel's smile faded a bit, unwilling to damage her innocence in the least. "I tell you what. I have a few things to sort out up here. As soon as I right the wrongs and save the world, I'll come back and I'll take you out for ice cream. Sound good to you?"  
  
"Oh yeah! I can't wait!" Fred said eagerly.  
  
"Okay, then it's a date."  
  
Had Angel been in L.A., he'd have seen Fred's cheeks blush cherry red and a bashful smile on her face as wide as can be. "Okay then."  
  
"Is Wesley there?"  
  
"Mhmm. Want to talk to him?"  
  
"Yes, please."  
  
Angel waited for a moment as she left the line, hearing a thump as if she'd tripped and fell after leaving the phone. After a few minutes of worrying, a more masculine voice responded, a distinguished English enunciation in his tone, even in his current age.  
  
"Angel, how are things going?"  
  
"...well...they're fine. Any news on your end?"  
  
"You had sex, didn't you?"  
  
"What?" Angel's mouth was agape. He was dumbfounded at Wesley's deduction. How could he possibly have known? It wasn't as if making love was the only thing on Buffy's mind or his own at the moment...though it was one of the top five.  
  
"Don't try to deny it," Wesley taunted, "I can hear it in your voice. It's less broody."  
  
"Wesley, I had about a decade shaved off my vocal cords."  
  
"True, but there's a certain bounce in it."  
  
"That'd be the hint of Irish descent."  
  
"You have an excuse for everything, don't you? Just admit it."  
  
"Buffy and I...may have gotten...a little intimate."  
  
"Oh really? How intimate?"  
  
"I think I'm wearing her underwear."  
  
Wesley paused. "Okay, I deserved that horrifying mental image. No more prying into your coital exploits. You've cured me of all meddling inclinations."  
  
"One can only hope. Any progress?"  
  
"Well, there is tell of an ancient serum that grants youth. But it is merely a restoration. As soon as the body goes, so does the mind, then the body begins aging normally again. I did find that you have the best chance of all of them of staying in your right mind, considering that your mind literally has centuries to go."  
  
"Okay, any cure for this serum?"  
  
"One. But it must be done within a week of the initial procedure, or all is permanent."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I...don't really know. All I have is history here. The reversal would be in the same volume as the incantation itself. However, I can track down the user, pinpoint his exact location at the time of the ritual."  
  
"How?"  
  
"By using the ages of people on the planet. The farther their minds are gone, the closer we are. There is one problem, though."  
  
"Didn't see that coming. What is it?"  
  
"The earth itself is becoming younger. And if it gets as young as it's inhabitants have become, it'll basically be a big floating ball of lava and violent volcanic eruptions, so barren a wasteland that it would be beyond supporting any kind of life."  
  
"An Apocalypse. Wow. Another shocker."  
  
"Angel...we have to find that book."  
  
"We will. I'm tying up a few loose ends here, trying to see if there's any manuscripts or something that contains a hint as to how to get rid of this thing. Even the Watcher's Council is researching it."  
  
"Hopefully, something can be done. And fast."  
  
"I agree. I'll call if I get anything."  
  
"As will I. Good luck."  
  
"You too. And Wesley?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I think I really am wearing her underwear."  
  
Wesley hung up the phone, giving a woeful look to Fred and their other two companions, Cordelia and Gunn.  
  
"We're doomed."  
-----  
  
"Tara? Tara...wake up..."  
  
The blonde witch slowly opened her eyes, finding it hard to focus them. She also found that a harsh soreness seemed to be embedding itself in her brain. As her eyes opened completely, she fluttered them, trying to become accustomed to the light as she looked around at all of her friends gathered around her hospital bed. "Hmm...Willow?"  
  
"Hey," Willow responded, smiling down at her love. "How are you doing?"  
  
"We heard you used the dashboard as a hat." Xander added, smiling softly at his friend.  
  
"I...I was driving back to the magic shop when this cat scurried across the road," Tara said, wincing as she sat up. "I...couldn't reach the brakes."  
  
"Told you," Willow said, giving a knowing look towards Xander.  
  
"The next thing I remember is waking up here, with you guys." Tara finished.  
  
"The nurse said the car hit a tree, and some bystanders brought you in," Buffy said, "Good thing for you the doctor remembered his sense of duty."  
  
"He had a major case of the wiggins." Anya added.  
  
"I'll say," Xander said, "He had to use both hands so the scalpel wouldn't shake as much."  
  
"But," Tara said, looking up worriedly at Willow, "I'm going to be okay, right?"  
  
"Yep, you just caught a piece of metal in your forehead," Buffy said, "A few stitches and a couple of pints of blood, and you were all patched up."  
  
"Did you find out anything about, you know, our dilemma?" Dawn asked.  
  
"A little. The book that contains such rejuvenation spells was actually stolen from a museum in San Francisco last week. A friend of mine gave me a spell that should highlight any temporal displacement." Tara said.  
  
"I think I speak for all of us when I say, huh?" Xander said, "Maybe a little less vagueness for us non-pagans."  
  
"It means," Tara continued, "that those in the circle would catch the brunt of the magic. And basically, they'd send out a beam of blue light into the heavens, a beacon for us all." Tara reached an IV-ed hand into her pocket, weakly pulling out a slip of paper and handing it to Willow. "Think you can handle the enchantment?"  
  
"Of course." Willow said, smiling warmly down at Tara.  
  
"Did your friend have a name on this book thief?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yeah," Tara said, looking over at her. "But the police never apprehended her. She's been around for a few hundred years. Her name's Tabitha...something. Starts with an 'R'. She uses an alias. Kathleen, then something with an 'R'. Can you work with that?"  
  
"Can't be too many youth-seeking witches named Tabitha out in the world." Buffy replied.  
  
"You'd be surprised," Xander said, "That name's probably like Smith in the netherworld."  
  
"You can come home with us," Willow said, "but only to rest. You need your strength if we're to battle any baddies."  
  
Tara smiled. "I'd like that."  
  
"Okay, let's get the Munchkin back home." Xander said. "By home, I mean Buffy's place."  
  
"Mhmm," Tara retorted, "And maybe on the way we can ask the great and powerful Oz to grant you a brain."  
  
"Don't make me drop a house on you." Xander said, feigning anger by lifting a finger towards her.  
  
"Bring it on, Tin Man."   
  
"Okay," Buffy said, "taking this metaphor way too far now. Let's go home."  
  
"Metaphor? You mean they weren't serious?" Anya asked.  
---------- 


	3. Chapter Two: Expecting

CHAPTER TWO: EXPECTING  
  
  
Buffy and friends entered her home to see a rather empty living room. As Willow helped Tara to the couch, Xander closed the door. He sat on the opposite side of Tara, seeing as Willow had seated herself to the right of her beloved on the sofa. Buffy quietly stepped to the staircase, glancing up the flight before making her way upstairs. She cautiously pushed open the door to her room, her tension relieved as she spotted Angel lying on her bed, serenely asleep. She moved over to her dresser, spotting a faint glint. As she picked up the source of the shimmering, she smiled softly. The twinkling was caused by two claddagh rings, the bigger one obviously his. Buffy ran her fingertips over the engraved heart of her ring, silently slipping the loop onto her left ring finger.  
  
Her smile was unrelenting as she glided the larger ring onto his left middle finger, feeling her lover stir on the bed as the symbol of their undying love once again adorned his body. She turned to face him as he sat up, his dark mane tousled with sleep. As his eyes met her, she felt herself drifting into those soft chocolate pools, falling even deeper in love with him than ever before. Angel smiled slightly, standing and moving to embrace her, strong arms locking around her waist.  
  
"Is Tara okay?" he said, kissing her lips gently.  
  
Buffy felt that familiar heat sweep over her body, the same warmth that always came with his kisses. She'd missed that comfort so very much, and she didn't realize how much until that moment. Tears began welling up in her eyes. She lowered her head in an effort to hide them, smiling a veil over her mounting emotions. "She'll be fine."  
  
Angel alighted a finger beneath her chin, lifting her head slowly. "Buffy, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing," she said, wiping away a few escaped droplets. "I just..."  
  
"You can tell me anything, Buffy," he said soothingly, brushing a few strands of her hair behind her ear with his fingers. "Did I...do something?"  
  
"No, I..." Buffy looked up at him, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. "Why are you here?"  
  
"What...?"  
  
"Why are you here? You said you wanted to talk to me, but there was no conversation. You just made love to me. I'm not complaining, but it'd just be nice to know why you decided to come back into my life after all this time."  
  
Angel touched her cheek gently, settling his palm into the contour of her face. "I left so you'd have a chance at a normal life...a normal relationship. I always planned on coming back to you when I was human."  
  
Buffy rested her head on his chest, her tears dampening the silk of his shirt as she clung to him, relishing in the sense of security his presence always brought her. "My life is nowhere near normal. Never has been, never will be. Don't...don't tell me that you left to make things more ordinary for me. Nothing can ever make me a regular girl and you know it."  
  
"Buffy," he said, his hold on her tightening much to her satisfaction. "I couldn't have stayed. We couldn't make love."  
  
"You think that mattered to me?"  
  
"No. But there'll always be that need. The desire, the passion, the necessity to be in that union. It's always there. We can't resist it. It's essential for us."  
  
"But it's essential because we love each other so much. We belong together."  
  
"Don't you think I know that? I never stopped loving you, Buffy. That isn't why I left. I left because if we carried out that desire, it would have had devastating consequences." He kissed the top of her head affectionately before resting his chin atop it. "I never said goodbye to you...because I couldn't. I knew that if I had to tell you I was never coming back, I'd falter and stay forever in your arms. I knew that if I had been any closer to you that night than I was, I'd have forsaken the lives of countless people to stay with you. I'd have made love to you that night if I could have. You don't know what it did to me, how it tore and ripped and wrenched my heart to just abandon you like that. But never, not for one second, did I think we'd be apart forever. I always planned on coming back. I was foolish to think you wouldn't move on-..."  
  
"Hush," Buffy said, nuzzling upwards into his cheek, her words quieting to a whisper. "I never moved on from you, Angel."  
  
Angel closed his eyes, emotion coming to him as well. "But...Riley..."  
  
"Hush means you don't talk," Buffy said, smiling a bit as she looked up at him, her tears now arriving from joy. She leaned up to kiss him, whispering into his ear. "Make love to me, Angel."  
  
That sweet murmur of hers merged with her gentle nibbles and licks at his neck, nourishing the seed that lead to what could only be called total contentment. He was human, and she was determined to provide bliss for him, become the epitome of perfect happiness, just as he had to her. Angel's mouth captured Buffy's full, ripe lips, and their tongues met and dueled in a feverish reunion. She couldn't get close enough to him, managing to break the buttons of his shirt right down the middle, pulling the now-useless garment off of his shoulders and down to the floor.  
  
She laid him back on her bed, removing her own top. As she cast it too to the floor, she unbuttoned and lowered her jeans, straddling him. Her arms wound around his neck as she pressed nearer, the warmth of her belly nurturing his erection. She tugged his barriers of denim down, tossing them nonchalantly onto the building pile of fabric at the side of her bed. When she felt him stiffen and rise against her, Buffy was completely lost, consumed with desire. Their hearts pounded in unison as they devoured one another in a frenzy of passion.  
  
The rest of the world slipped away. Buffy's reality centered on Angel - the taste of his mouth, the sure touch of his fingers, the warm, strong, living presence of his body - and the currents of energy that flowed between them. It was more than desire or lust: each kiss, each caress, was charged with intense emotion. Taut, aching nipples matured under Angel's seeking tongue, teeth nipping gently at the sensitive pink bud. Buffy gasped, astonished by the sudden shock of pleasure. She suffered the sweetest torment as Angel kneaded her swelling breasts and teased each nipple with his tongue and lips. She twined her arms about his neck in search of a kiss. Angel obliged, cupping her buttocks in his hands and lifting her upwards.  
  
Buffy wrapped her legs about his hips, thrilled to feel the hard pressure of his manhood against the core of her desire. Shivers of delight transported her to their first night together as he swirled his tongue over each swollen peak, sucking gently until she began to pant and move her hips against his in a timeless rhythm. When Angel shifted slightly to position himself between her legs, Buffy rocked back and forth against him. The tip of him teased her bottom as she arched instinctively in response to his thrusts. She slipped back and forth until, suddenly, there was a burst of delicious throbbing sensations deep in her loins that undulated in waves over the rest of her body.  
  
Angel's heart tightened with tenderness as he watched her enchanting face contort at the moment of her release. She made a sound of primitive joy, her nails digging into his back and her legs tensing around his hips, and Angel could feel her spasms against the length of his manhood. Again she moaned, this time reaching blindly between them, begging wordlessly for his entry. Buffy waited, spellbound with anticipation, staring boldly at his chiseled body. He was, without a doubt, the most beautiful man in the world, regardless of age.  
  
Buffy blushed a bit, feasting upon her lover, running her hands down his tapering back, kissing the warm expanse of his chest, then nuzzling his nipples as he had done to hers. When they tautened against her soft lips and she heard Angel's sharp intake of breath, Buffy was delighted by her discovery. Her hands strayed lower, exploring and caressing until Angel could take no more.  
  
Angel moved forward and pressed himself against her, closing his eyes and breathing in the subtle scent of strawberries laced in her honeyed hair. Buffy felt a fresh surge of arousal as he cupped her breasts, then trailed his hands over her belly to caress her more intimately. Buffy clenched the headboard, a faint cracking heard from it as her grasp tightened, feeling Angel gradually enter her from below. They moaned softly in unison, savoring each sensation until Buffy was completely filled. Angel shut his eyes for a moment, snug inside her warmth. It was as if their bodies had been made to fit together this way.  
  
Then, slowly, he began to move, letting the ecstasy build. Buffy held fast to the headboard and pushed off of it to meet Angel's thrusts, while he framed her hips with his hands. The sound of their breathing filled the air, fueling their passion. Each time he pushed into her, a low cry escaped her lips, and when Angel nipped at her neck, then caressed his way back down with his lips, Buffy thought she would explode. The sensations of their coupling were the wildest, keenest, most exquisite she had ever known. Just when she was certain she could bear no more, Angel leaned forward to kiss her breasts, a hand reaching to brush the soft curls protecting Buffy's womanhood. Still moving inside of her, he gauged the level of her arousal and lightly pressed his fingers against her. Buffy whimpered, in a near frenzy of unbearable pleasure. She wondered how Angel knew exactly how to touch her, how he knew exactly what she needed. As the climax built, his fingers pressed again, paused, then pressed again. Suddenly Buffy cried out, shuddering, as Angel thrust deep inside of her, feeling his own spasms begin. It was as if his entire being were centered in his loins, in the shattering contractions that left him pulsing and incredibly sensitized.  
  
A minute passed before Angel could speak, and then his voice was a hoarse whisper. "My God..." He stayed inside of Buffy, keeping them securely joined, his face buried in the curve of her neck.  
  
Buffy let go of the headboard and sagged within Angel's embrace. "I feel..." Her mouth was parched. "I feel as if I've been turned inside out." Angel nodded a silent agreement, keeping her within his grasp. He heard Buffy whisper the words "Stay inside me tonight...please..." softly, closing his eyes as he indulged her request. She floated into a quiet slumber, perfectly comfortable atop her Angel.  
-----  
  
The next morning, everyone had gathered in Buffy's bedroom for a discussion on their next move. Willow nursed Tara's head from time to time, not quite focusing on the task at hand. Xander and Buffy went over their current weapon inventory while Angel leaned against the wall in thought.  
  
"Okay," Buffy said, placing an axe on the coffee table amongst other weapons. "That should do it for any minions. But this girl is supposed to be some formidable witch, right? Don't you guys have any spells that I can use for protection?"  
  
"Well," Willow said, placing a fresh piece of gauze on Tara's forehead. "We can come up with some by tonight. That's when we're doing the location spell Tara got."  
  
"Wait," Angel said, pushing himself off of the wall to stand. "What's her name again?"  
  
"Tabitha something." Tara said. "Why?"  
  
"Tabi...I think I know who we're dealing with." Angel said.  
  
"Who?" Buffy asked, straightening up to listen more intently.  
  
"Tabitha Reedsworth." Angel began. "She was a powerful witch in the eighteenth century. She and I, well, she and Angelus, go back. Kathleen was her twin sister's name. Kathy was the good sister, Tabby the bad. Kathy didn't know of her sister's true nature until she read a prophecy concerning them both. Of course, that was some one hundred years ago."  
  
Angel sat down, glancing over at Willow. "Tabby had an apprentice, one who was deeply in love with Kathleen. She murdered her sister and took her identity just so she could use the guy's emotions as a tool in her spells. Evil deeds are good, but spells using the power of one's heart can turn out some really black magic. His name is Darien. He kept her and himself alive over the centuries, but the aging didn't stop. They just got older. I thought they were dead. Youth was an illusion for them, a facade to hide their elderly appearance. Tabby became a recluse, the dark magic she was using actually weakening her and making her more grotesque than even Time did. Of course, Darien was her puppet. If she has the book, chances are she did this little time warp to make herself over. Something must have gone wrong."  
  
"I'll say." Buffy said.  
  
"You said you and her go back," Xander said, "how so? She do a little mojo on you?"  
  
"You know the stock market crash and the Great Depression?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"My idea. Just took her a while to carry it out."  
  
"Well, it's comforting to know we have the creator of one of the darkest days in this country's history sitting right here in our living room."  
  
"Co-creator, thank you very much."  
  
"Anyway," Buffy said rolling her eyes and looking to Willow." Do you think I could get a little mystical help? Just in case she's as dark as Angel says."  
  
"Dark or not, we only have five days before the world ends, so I'd say we need some help." Angel said.  
  
Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Five days?"  
  
"That's what Wesley says. The entire Earth is becoming younger. Time is not on our side."  
  
"When is it ever?" Xander asked, leaning back on the couch dejectedly.  
  
"Good point." Buffy said. "But since Angel and her have a history, maybe it'd be better if he did a little reconnaissance, maybe confronting her."  
  
"But we'd have to know where she is," Angel said, "and if she doesn't want to be found, she won't be."  
  
"What do you suggest?"  
  
"You have to go through the imps to get to the Devil."  
  
"A little less cryptic, please?" Xander implored.  
  
"Darien."  
-----  
  
Darien was sitting on his easy chair, slovenly dressed in only a red robe that couldn't even be attempted to be used to cover the tremendous gut that protruded upwards, a bowl of spaghetti balancing on the lump of flesh. He was watching television, the sauce smeared all over his face from his sloppy eating habits.  
  
"Why am I not surprised that I can just walk right in here without an invitation?"  
  
The voice from the shadows startled him, causing him to fall out of the chair, his meal splattering all over his front. He scrambled to his feet, flesh rolling and jiggling as he tried to face the intruder. "I-Invitation? Y-You're a vampire?"  
  
Angel stepped out of the shadows slowly, his features slowly emerging from the darkness. "Now I know I've had a bit of a facelift in recent days, but surely you recognize me."  
  
"A-Angelus...how...nice to see you!" He backpedaled towards the kitchen, keeping his eyes on Angel nervously. "How about I get you something to eat?"  
  
"No thanks. I prefer freshness." Angel said, smirking slightly. "You don't own this little rathole do you? Tabitha provide it for you? I mean...Kathleen..."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Darien asked, growing angry. "What does my beloved have to do with this?"  
  
"Oh, come on, Darien," Angel said, stepping towards the man. "It's the new millennium. Certainly you've caught on by now." He saw the puzzled look on Darien's face and sighed. "Okay, Tabby murdered the girl you were hot for and took her place in your heart just so she could use and abuse you like the poor schmuck you are, and now the world's going to end because you can't tell two girls apart."  
  
"Lies!" Darien yelled, "All lies!"  
  
"Yes, let's get melodramatic about it." Angel said, rolling his eyes. "You have an opportunity to avenge your sweetheart and right every wrong you and Tabby have committed."  
  
"I...I do?"  
  
"Yep. Just tell me where she is."  
  
"Why should I believe you? Why should I tell you anything?"  
  
"Because I can get rid of your excess weight."  
  
"Y-You can? How...?"  
  
"The natural solution would be to bleed you like a stuck pig. That'd be fun, and you'd lose twenty pounds. But the most effective solution," Angel said, taking an axe from his duster and hefting it up onto his shoulder, "would be to carve out all those annoying little fat cells then sew up the wound with barbed wire, just in case any vital organs get out. Doesn't matter to me. One has more blood, the other more screaming. It's like deciding between eating steak kabobs or shrimp kabobs - it doesn't really matter, because one way or the other you're gonna get stabbed in the neck with the skewers. Now, ready to talk?"  
  
"She's at the warehouse on Fifth Street, trying to summon the demon Alhtaca to grant her immortality."  
  
"And how exactly does that grant get fulfilled?"  
  
"A pregnant girl must be given to Alhtaca so he may possess the baby and be birthed into the world and reign terror on the earth and annihilate all who oppose him."  
  
"Thanks, Darien. Won't have to bleed you like swine after all."  
  
"Thank you, Angelus."  
  
As Angel exited the apartment complex, he walked over to the rest of the gang, who had been waiting outside Darien's window. "Remind me to thank Wesley for that address."  
  
"You know," Buffy said, "you took a chance guessing that he didn't own this place."  
  
"Yeah, and what was with the whole "Light Switch of Sadism" that you conveniently turned on poor Darien back there?"  
  
"It's a gift. Like the ability to lurk." Angel said. "Doesn't all come from being a vampire."  
  
"That's comforting," Anya said, "in a scary, evil spawn of Satan kind of way."  
  
"It is off, right?" Xander said. "Right?"  
  
"Come on, let's go find this Tabitha baddie and vanquish her so we can go home." Buffy said.  
  
"Not tonight," Angel said. "She's not ready. If she was, Darien would have been there to assist. We have to wait for her to perform the ritual."  
  
"What? Why?" Buffy asked, "We're on a time limit here."  
  
"Because she's probably masked herself from the location spell. Once she starts the new spell, we just turn our enchantment loose, and it'll pick up the new mystical energy forming."  
  
"But we know where she is."  
  
"No we don't. There is no warehouse on Fifth Street."  
  
"Great," Buffy said, "Back to square one. What else can happen tonight?"  
  
Buffy suddenly screamed as she looked down at her hands...or, where her hands used to be. Her friends stared in horror as they watched her body abruptly fade away into nothing.  
  
"She had to ask." Anya said.  
  
"How can she disappear like that? She's not a vampire!" Xander said.  
  
"She's not gone," Angel said, "Just somewhere else."  
  
"Where?" Willow asked  
  
"With Tabitha."  
-----  
  
Buffy labored to shake the weight of sleep off of her body, the effects beginning to dwindle as her eyes focused on her new surroundings. She could tell she was in some sort of warehouse by the crates and advertisements that were strewn about on the floor, but she also noted that a mass of candles created the only illumination in the gloominess of her new prison. She tried to sit up, but found her hands shackled by her sides, her ankles restrained as well.  
  
"So the sleeping beauty awakes. Just in time."  
  
Buffy looked into the shadows, searching for the source of the voice that spoke to her. Her captor was slowly revealed as she stepped into the light, provocatively clothed in a blue satin dress that showed off her newly tightened midriff. Also flaunted were her legs, which easily escaped the long slit that ran from the bottom of the garb to her waist, the garment's skintight design exhibiting all her youthful yet fully developed curves. All her hair was swept elegantly to one side, almost distracting from the insidious smile gracing those ample lips.  
  
"And who are you?" Buffy asked, still pulling at her restraints. "My fairy godmother?"  
  
"Bippity boppity boo," the woman said, grinning as she approached the table to which Buffy was bound. "Think of me as a pioneer in the feminist movement. The only person to ever gain true immortality will be a woman, and a powerful one at that."  
  
"Tabitha." Buffy said, recognizing who her adversary was, but not yet able to see what was to become of her in Tabitha's plan. The witch just smiled in mock sweetness, playing with a few flaxen tendrils on Buffy's head.  
  
"Surely you'll understand how important it is that a woman rule the world, one deserving of the power and the right to give every single man on this planet, this very universe, what they are worthy of." Tabitha pulled sharply on Buffy's hair, relishing in Buffy's helpless wincing. "Death."  
  
Buffy yanked away from her hand, glaring angrily up at her. "All this because you aren't on the best of terms with the male species? You want to destroy billions of lives because you have man problems?" Buffy tugged at her shackles, hearing the metal wrench a bit. "Take a number, get in line, join the club. Talk to me when you have a schizophrenic boyfriend whose homicidal tendencies are triggered every time he gets a happy."  
  
Again, she jerked at her bindings, feeling the steel loosen around her wrists. "Talk to me when your so-called boyfriend leaves the country because he'd rather have vampires suck off him and face certain death with unidentifiable demons then stay with you." She tugged again, hard. "Talk to me when you have friends and family threatened and killed by someone wearing the same face as the man you love, the man you first gave your heart, body, and soul to." Her last statement brought emotion to her face, a tear falling slowly down her cheek as the emotions themselves fueled her final pull, a resounding click signaling her victory as the bolts in her shackles broke from the table.  
  
Tabitha yawned. "Are you quite done?"  
  
"Nope." Buffy said. "Just one more thing."  
  
As Tabitha listened not-so-intently, Buffy lashed out a hard right hand, knocking the sorceress to the floor. Buffy sat up, working feverishly to free her ankles from their bindings. Once loose, she noticed Tabitha getting back to her feet. She thrust out a knee to the witch's face, knocking her back. Tabitha's disorientation didn't deter Buffy, nor persuade her to lighten up. She spun, using the momentum to intensify her kick, her foot crashing into Tabitha's nose. Thinking her unconscious, Buffy ceased her assault, running to find some sort of exit in the maze of boxes.  
  
Tabitha slowly rose to her feet, furious that blood was trickling from her nose, damaging her once perfect appearance. Her eyes turned solid black as she lifted her hand, her palm facing Buffy's back. She began whispering in ancient Gaelic, her chanting growing louder as the spell built up. She let out a final yell of the enchantment and dropped her hand, smirking deviously.  
  
Buffy felt something rip through her, tearing at her insides. She fell to her knees, hugging her stomach as whatever was summoned by Tabitha shredded her to her very being. She screamed out in agony, her pained and tormented cries drowning out Tabitha's sadistic laughter.  
  
Tabitha chuckled softly. "It's time to make my own destiny."  
-----  
  
Willow and Tara looked over at a red crystalline orb that sat on the coffee table at the Summers' residence, watching in shock as it turned blue and levitated, spinning and glowing.  
  
"Guys! It's happening!" Willow yelled out.  
  
Angel and Dawn hurried down the stairs as Xander and Anya entered from the kitchen, stopping in their tracks as they too saw the radiating sphere.  
  
"There should be a light outside, signaling where the use of magic is." Tara said, looking up at Angel.  
  
"And from the looks of that," Willow said, noting the whirling orb, "it's a lot of magic."  
  
"I'll go." Angel said, grabbing his duster from the couch. "You all stay here and try to find some way to stop it if I can't."  
  
"Which 'it'?" Willow asked, raising an eyebrow excitedly. "Alhtaca or the world coming to an end from the youth spell?"  
  
Angel stared blankly at her for a moment. "Pick one. Try both if you can't decide which."  
  
"Oh." Willow said, calming down a bit. "Okay."  
  
"Hey there," Xander said, "you're not going alone."  
  
"Xander, it's too dangerous," Angel said, putting his duster on. "You might disrupt my masquerade as Angelus or even as a vampire. You might get me or Buffy killed. Maybe both."  
  
"Look, you might be able to boss Monarchy Boy and Queen C around, but this is Sunnydale. We do the fighting here. I understand you and Buffy have your little yen thing going on, but when this is all over, you'll still have to leave. And I for one want to be there to comfort her when she starts crying."  
  
Angel looked down for a moment, Xander's words sinking in. He raised his gaze back up. "Alright. Let's go."  
  
Anya looked over at Dawn, clinging for comfort. "If he dies I'll be very angry at your sister."  
  
Angel and Xander dashed out of the door, only to have Angel stop as soon as the house was out of view. Xander waited impatiently as Angel seemed to have his head lowered in thought.  
  
"What's the matter, Deadboy? Forget your Brooder's Handbook?"  
  
Angel shook his head, looking up. "Do you have a couple of dollars?"  
  
"For what?" Xander asked, raising an eyebrow agitatedly. "Suntan lotion?"  
  
"No," Angel said. "Aspirin."  
  
As Xander's face contorted in confusion, his befuddlement was suddenly halted by Angel's fist colliding with his face, knocking him to the asphalt in an unconscious heap. Angel picked his legs up, dragging him over into the grass, settling him out of view. He looked over at a nearby ray of light that pierced the heavens, falling upon his destination. He took one last look at Xander before running off towards it.  
  
"That's for calling me Deadboy."  
-----  
  
Tabitha's repetitive mantra was barely audible beneath the torturous shrieks and sobs of utter misery emanating from Buffy's lips. Something was moving inside of her, something with claws, something that was scraping ruthlessly at her from within to get out. Tabitha was oblivious to Buffy's sorrowful screams and pleas to make the pain stop, continuing her chanting to summon the demon that would grant her everlasting life.  
  
"Alhtaca, I invoke thee! Fill this unborn child with your essence and I with your power! Satiate your hunger for destruction and my own for an endless existence!"  
  
"You know, dark ritualistic chants just aren't what they used to be."  
  
Startled, Tabitha whirled around to see who dared to intrude upon her. When she saw who it was, she smiled gleefully. "Angelus! I can't believe you're here!"  
  
"Me neither." Angel said. Tabitha approached him and spread out her arms to hug him, but Angel didn't budge. "Let the girl go."  
  
Tabitha raised an eyebrow. "What? Angelus, I'm doing this for you! We can finally be together forever...I assume you dumped that whore Darla. Why else would you be here?"  
  
Angel rolled his eyes. "Hard of hearing, are we? Let her go."  
  
"Angelus..." Tabitha paused, looking him over. "Why....why are you human?"  
  
"Let her go or Darien dies."  
  
Tabitha shrugged. "Kill him. The little worm is of no consequence to me anymore."  
  
Angel smiled slightly. "I thought you might say that. That's why I got a couple of Wiccan friends of mine working up something for you. You let her go, or your pretty face is gone for good."  
  
Fortunately, Tabitha didn't see through Angel's bluff...for the moment. "You care for her or something?"  
  
"You might say that."  
  
"You...you have a soul! I heard the rumors, but I never dreamed that you'd be reduced to a sniveling do-gooder. I can't believe this!"  
  
"Yes, your dream guy isn't what you thought he'd be, your daddy never bought you a pony for Sweet Sixteen, and your mommy loved your sister more than you. That about cover it?"  
  
Tabitha's expression turned dark with anger. "I could just kill you."  
  
One of Buffy's screams broke the tension, stabbing into Angel's very heart. "Oh, no. You see, if she and I don't return in fifteen minutes, then my Wiccan associates will make sure that all the Oil of Olay in the world won't smooth out your skin. Your youth will be gone. You worked so hard for it, didn't you? Wrinkles, veins, multiple blemishes, scars. Your flawless figure will be gone forever. You wouldn't want that, would you?"  
  
Tabitha looked down at her voluptuous body in near fright. Angel smiled faintly, having capitalized on her vanity. Tabitha said a few quick words, and Buffy's cries silenced. Angel walked over to her, picking up her lifeless body on his arms. She had fainted from the pain.  
  
"No worry. I can just find another teenager that's with child. Not that difficult. And when I do, I'll kill you...Angel."  
  
Angel started off towards the exit, looking down at Buffy worriedly. Tabitha ran her hands all over her body, sizing up every contour and making sure they were ideal for someone of her stature. She lifted her gaze to Angel's back and watched him make his way out. Just as he was about to leave, she spoke up.  
  
"The baby's yours, isn't it?"  
  
Angel paused in his stride, looking back down at Buffy, who seemed to be breathing regularly and sleeping rather peacefully for someone who almost had a demon burst from her womb. He stared out of the doorway at the night sky for a moment, then continued on his journey.  
---------- 


	4. Chapter Three: Promise

CHAPTER THREE: PROMISE  
  
  
"Three days left." Angel said.  
  
"The changes have already begun. Ice caps reforming and such. It's actually kinda cool, in a Armageddon-y 'We're-all-gonna-die' kind of way." Willow said.  
  
"And we still have this demon to worry about." Dawn added.  
  
"She needs to find another. That'll take longer than three days." Angel said.  
  
"Another Slayer?" Buffy asked. "That's Faith. She's in jail, an enclosed area. An easy catch."  
  
"It's not a Slayer she needs." Angel said, looking out of the window at the sunlight as it fell upon everything outside. Perfectly normal, as if nothing at all was wrong. No death, no danger. Just peace. It was actually quite idyllic. Perfect place to raise a child.  
  
"Than what does she need? A stressed-out blonde?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well...?"  
  
Angel turned to face the group, who was listening rather intently now. "She needs a pregnant girl."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"A pregnant girl. A girl with child. A girl who's expecting a bundle of joy."  
  
"Thank you, Mr. Obvious." Buffy said. "But what does that have to do with me?" Her face settled with realization, her expression suddenly calm. And then...she smiled. "Oh."  
  
"You mean, Buffy's pregnant?" Willow said, smiling excitedly. "By who?"  
  
Angel stared at Willow, smiling sheepishly and raising both eyebrows.  
  
"Oh." Willow said. "Oh! Right. Well, congratulations!"  
  
Buffy stood up and walked over to Angel, slipping her hands into his own, lifting them and kissing them softly. She stared up at him, smiling as she once again became lost in his eyes. All she ever wanted was coming true. "We...we're having a baby..."  
  
"You'll be doing the having," Angel said, kissing her lips gently. "I'll be doing more of the watching."  
  
"I don't know about that, maybe Willow could-..."  
  
"No thank you. I've been to Hell before. Earned my badge for pain."  
  
"You ever birthed a child?"  
  
"Well, no."  
  
"Then you haven't earned anything." Buffy smiled, kissing him tenderly.  
  
"That's great." Xander said, holding an ice pack on his nose. "He knocks me unconscious, but evades scolding by conceiving a child. Slippery devil, he is."  
  
Buffy smiled up at Angel. "No kisses for a week."  
  
"A week?" Angel asked. "Could either of us endure?"  
  
"A day?"  
  
Angel shook his head.  
  
"An hour?"  
  
Angel shook his head again.  
  
"Five seconds?"  
  
"It'd be torture." Angel said, grinning. "But I think I can manage. Barely."  
  
"Good. Consider yourself scolded." Buffy said, kissing him again. She turned and looked at Xander. "You're taking this remarkably well."  
  
Xander sat up. "Even I know when to restrain my sarcasm. This is a happy moment, and those are few and far between lately."  
  
Angel raised an eyebrow, then smirked slightly. "You know you want to."  
  
"Okay," Xander took a deep breath. "It's nice to know when the world's about to end in a flurry of torment and anguish, not to mention a lot of fire, you can take time out of your busy schedule to boink and bring yet another life into this world to be irresponsibly taken."  
  
"Not your best work, but it'll do."  
  
"I'm still a little shaky from your left hook. Which, by the way, wouldn't have done any damage had I not been caught off guard. I laugh at your puny attempt to subdue me."  
  
"Xander. You were looking right at me. And you were unconscious for fourteen hours."  
  
"It's a small laugh."  
  
"Okay," Buffy said, looking around at her friends, "the demon issue is pretty much null and void, and I'm having a baby. Now what do we do about this pesky world destruction thing?"  
  
"Well," Willow said, "I found the reversal to the spell. Not exactly a reversal, just a separate spell to restore the balance of time."  
  
"I asked Anya to get a few things from the Magic Box for us." Tara added. "She made me pay for them."  
  
"Okay, what'll happen to Angel?" Buffy asked. "And the baby? And...Spike?"  
  
"We don't know." Willow said. "We could do separate spells for them after the restoration spell. Maybe do an enchantment to protect them from the effects until we can find suitable spells to do on them."  
  
"You need anything from me?" Buffy inquired.  
  
"Nope." Willow said. "You've been through enough. And you being a mother and all now, it's probably better that you rest. So go and relax. We can handle it."  
  
"Relax? Handle it? How can I relax when the world is going to end in sixty hours?"  
  
"Probably with Angel."  
  
"But-..."  
  
"This is my resolve face. Well known to all. There's no arguing. Go rest."  
  
"What if-..."  
  
"Resolve. Face."  
  
Buffy sighed. "Okay, you win."  
  
"Always do." Willow said, smiling.  
  
Buffy smiled, making her way upstairs to her room, Angel following.  
  
Dawn walked over to Xander, placing a fresh ice pack on his face. He winced sharply.  
  
"I wasn't looking directly at him. More...sideways. And I was out for thirteen and a half hours."  
  
"Thirteen and a half?" Dawn asked. "Good. Then your manhood is still intact."  
  
Xander smiled. "Close one."  
-----  
  
"It's just crazy, you know?" Buffy said, entering her bedroom. She'd changed into a white baby tee and gray sweatpants, sitting on her bed. She nestled her head onto Angel's chest as he sat next to her, his arm curling around her waist affectionately.  
  
"Isn't it always?" Angel retorted softly, smiling slightly in his simple wisdom.  
  
"I mean, here's everything I ever wanted. No vampires, no slaying, you, and now a baby. A chance at a relatively normal life and the world's going to be destroyed in just days." Buffy sighed, nuzzling deeper into the broad expanse of Angel's chest, comforted by the steady pulsation of his heartbeat.  
  
"Allow me to reiterate my previous statement." Angel said, kissing the top of her head gently. "Isn't it always?"  
  
"Point taken." Buffy said, closing her eyes as she immersed herself in the growing warmth of his body as it touched hers. "Can't we just have a normal marriage for one day where an Apocalypse doesn't threaten the Earth, my husband doesn't turn evil because a curse was taken off of him, and struggles for redemption aren't interrupted by some impending doom causing mass brooding and a feeling of helplessness?"  
  
Angel smiled. "If you want a honeymoon in Hawaii, all you have to do is ask."  
  
Buffy grinned, opening her eyes and looking up at her Angel. This was happiness. This was the way things should be. "I know. But I like being the opposite of cryptic. Not that that's a bad thing."  
  
"So," Angel said, kissing her forehead lightly, "you like talking about random things, or you like elaborating on one subject?"  
  
"Yes. Exactly."  
  
"What?" Angel raised an eyebrow, looking down at her with a puzzled expression. "You lost me..."  
  
"Then my work is done." Buffy said, snuggling back into his chest and giving it a light kiss. "Now, which hotel are we staying at?"  
  
Angel smiled faintly, which was an all out grin considering it's owner. He tightened his embrace around her, resting his head atop hers like he had done so many times before. "I love you, Buffy."  
  
"I love you too," Buffy said, smiling as she closed her eyes again. "But don't think just because I'm getting comfy and preparing to fall asleep in your arms that the hotel discussion is over."  
  
"Wouldn't dream of it." Angel said, closing his own eyes. A few moments passed, then Angel decided to break the silence. "Love's a funny thing, isn't it? It makes you blissful and miserable. It's frightening and healing. It's physical and spiritual. It's incredibly fragile and yet so strong it seems deathless. Love is a potent puzzle we'll never solve."  
  
Buffy smiled and looked up at him adoringly, her eyes glistening with tears. "I suppose it is." She lowered her head, blinking the tears away. "That was beautiful. Did you write that?"  
  
"Nope." Angel said, looking down at her, his smile somewhat bigger. "Fortune cookie."  
  
"You'd think that would cheapen the effect," Buffy said, leaning closer into him. "And yet, here we are." She kissed him softly on the lips before once more resting her head upon his chest. "I'm tired of giving things up, Angel."  
  
"I know the feeling." Angel said, kissing her head again softly.  
  
"I gave up any sense of normalcy in my life. My mother is gone. Giles is gone. I had to sacrifice you so many times it doesn't make any sense. When have I lost enough? When I just snap and decide it's not worth it anymore? Because I am seriously considering doing that if I have to watch you walk away one more time."  
  
Angel lowered his own head at her words, feeling the compulsive urge to brood. He felt her move up into his lap, her arms coiling around his neck tightly. He felt a dampness build on his shoulder and knew it to be from her tears. She was crying, but so softly he could only hear a few whimpers. His arms found their way around her firmly, trying to comfort the sobbing girl. Never had she looked so innocent as she did now, a young girl caught in the crossfire between good and evil as their battle raged all around her. He never knew just how much he alone had injured that innocence until now.  
  
"Promise me." Buffy said haltingly, struggling to fight back the onslaught of tears that was coming. "Promise me you won't leave me again. Promise me you'll stay." Then it happened. All the emotions building up in the Slayer over the past years, from death and bloodshed and loving and losing, surged forth. Her weeping became very audible, her form shaking in Angel's arms from her crying. "Promise me!" she exclaimed, clutching his body as if he were the one thing on Earth that kept her alive.  
  
"You expect me to leave everything behind to be with you because you're carrying my baby," Angel said, closing his eyes, "you know what we have to do."  
  
Buffy nodded in his arms, her voice timid. "Goodb-"  
  
"Marry me." Angel said, offering a slight smile as he held her. Buffy began crying again, but this time her tears were shed for a different reason. Angel swallowed hard, seizing the petite figure in his arms tightly, rocking her back and forth slowly. His own tears fell on her hair as he held her. He whispered but one word, low enough to escape Buffy's ears. "Forever."  
-----  
  
"Okay," Willow said, closing a book of ancient text and incantations Anya had brought her and placing it on the coffee table. She looked up at the group, wiping sleep from her eyes with the back of her hand. "The good news is, we may not have to protect Angel and the baby from the time restoration spell. It's like, going back in time and changing something. It starts a chain reaction. So, the baby should grow inside Buffy normally. That is, if you don't count the sudden lunge into the age of seven."  
  
"Ouch." Xander said, sitting across from Willow. "That's gotta hurt."  
  
"Right." Tara said, looking down thoughtfully. "So someone has to be there to help her with the labor. It'll go pretty fast, but still, ow."  
  
"I elect Angel." Xander said. "He made his bed and laid in it with the Buffster. Let him get his hand crushed by the angry pregnant Slayer as she's enduring body ripping pain."  
  
"Good point," Willow said, tapping her fingernails on the book. "But there's a problem. I know Angel is human now, but I don't know if he'll age ten years or two hundred. He could die."  
  
"That is a problem." Dawn said, looking towards the staircase as she thought of Buffy's reaction. She looked back towards Willow. "Maybe it's best we don't tell them that."  
  
"Maybe you're right." Willow said. "Another good thing is that Spike should be around when time is restored. But...the chip thing is an issue. Since technically we'll be resurrecting him as time is rebalanced, the chip will be gone."  
  
"Bad to worse, eh?" Xander said. "If it's not the world preparing to melt down to it's doom, it's demons losing their military-implanted chips for behavior control. Funny how Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen missed these little circumstances in their many delightful sitcoms and movies."  
  
They all stared at him.  
  
"What?" he asked. "And I suppose no one here has seen Full House?"  
  
"Anyway," Willow said, "back to the world ending."  
  
"Two of a Kind?" Xander continued.  
  
"Let it go." Dawn said, patting him on the back.  
  
"I do not copulate with him, I swear." Anya added.  
  
"I thought Passport to Paris was a well-known film." Xander said, talking to no one in particular.  
  
Willow stared at him for a moment before turning to Tara, who sat next to her. "You got the orb, right?"  
  
"Yep." Tara said, holding the crystalline ball to the light. "I'm all set."  
  
"An Orb of Thesulah?" Anya asked. "Who's soul are we restoring?"  
  
"Spike's." Willow said. "Just in case. I'll be doing the soul restoring spell, and Tara will do the time restoring spell."  
  
"I'll need some help." Tara said, looking over at Dawn. "How about it?"  
  
"Sure." Dawn said. "But what do we do about Tabitha? If she tries to interfere?"  
  
"We'll have to figure it out as we go along." Willow said. "It's better we get started now. You know, before we all become submerged in molten lava."  
  
"I'm telling you," Xander said, "this would make a great TV show."  
-----  
  
"I can't believe this." Buffy said, her head on Angel's chest once more as they laid in her bed, nothing but a thin blanket covering their naked bodies. Angel was stroking her hair, moving his fingers delicately through each strand lovingly.  
  
"Can't believe what?" Angel asked.  
  
"I think I've lost the desire to make love to you." Buffy said, shame in her voice as she nestled her head further into his chest.  
  
"Well, considering the fact that you're pregnant and we just made love eight times, I wouldn't blame you in the least." Angel said, kissing the top of her head, not bothered in the least by the sweat-dampened locks of hair as they spilled onto his chest. "Maybe I should put my clothes back on."  
  
As he went to get out of the bed, Buffy grabbed his arm. "Let's not be too hasty. After all, this is a serious condition that needs to be analyzed and diagnosed properly and promptly."  
  
"The simple words, 'Let's play doctor' would have sufficed." Angel said, settling back into both the bed and her arms.  
  
"Ready to examine me? I mean, you are the most qualified for the job." Buffy said, smiling coyly as she nipped at his nose with the tip of her tongue.  
  
"In a better mood, are we?" Angel said, smiling as he kissed her lips softly.  
  
"Making love to you always brightens my mood. And eight times makes for an extremely happy Buffy. But," she said, kissing his cheek and teasing his earlobe with her tongue, "I'd like to be an exceedingly happy Buffy. Want to go for Number Nine?"  
  
"You're never satisfied, are you?" Angel said, smirking at the blonde as she lightly mewed in his ear, for his fingers had somehow slipped past her defenses and were now playing gingerly upon her folds, content to merely tease and toy with them.  
  
Buffy nearly purred at his touch, her back arching slightly from the sensations. "With you? Always. I just like to stay satisfied for hours at a time." She kissed his chest lightly, determined to be the seductress as she trailed kissed up his neck and to his lips. "Problem?"  
  
"What Buffy wants, Buffy gets." Angel said, kissing the top of her breast softly.  
  
"Glad you finally noticed." Buffy said, giggling between soft whimpers as he consumed her right nipple, sucking gently on the bud as it grew under his attentions.  
  
"Um, excuse me?"  
  
Startled, Buffy, brought the blanket over Angel and herself to hide their activities. She blinked before realizing who was at her doorway. "Dawn! Don't you knock?"  
  
"Sorry. Just, Willow needs you guys to go patrolling, just in case any teenage vampires are wandering around. After all, can't be too careful."  
  
"Oh. Um, okay." Buffy said, looking down at Angel. "Tell Willow I'll be right down."  
  
"Okay." Dawn said, turning for the door. She stopped, turning back to face them in the doorway, smiling a bit. "By the way, Ms. Walters, the old woman who lives six houses down, wants to know when you became so devout."  
  
"What?" Buffy asked, confused.  
  
"Well, she heard you yelling 'God!' and 'Angel!' for the past five hours, so she assumed you'd found the Lord. Should I tell her what you actually found?"  
  
Buffy felt her cheeks grow hot as she blushed, smiling down at Angel. "That won't be necessary. You mind, oh, I don't know...leaving?"  
  
"Sure." Dawn said, making her way to the stairs. "What are sisters for?"  
  
Buffy sat up, picking her clothes off of the floor. She tilted her head towards Angel. "Raincheck?"  
  
Angel nodded with an amused smile as he kissed her. "Sure."  
  
Suddenly, they heard Dawn yell downstairs.  
  
"Willow! You were right! They were shagging again!"  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes, smirking as she looked behind her to watch Angel getting dressed. "She's just jealous that she doesn't have someone to have what we have with." She blinked. "She does...not...have someone...right?"  
  
Willow had just left the kitchen when she noticed Buffy and Angel coming down the stairs, her expression becoming more anxious as they approached her. She fidgeted a bit as Buffy spoke, her voice snapping her out of her nervous trance.  
  
"Okay, what's the plan?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I thought I told you to go rest," Willow said, shifting her eyes between them rapidly. "You know, relax."  
  
"I did." Buffy said. "This is me rested. Witness me in my relaxed state. Now what's going on?"  
  
"Well," Willow said, uneasily fiddling with her hands, "we've sort of been delayed in coming up with a course of action." She noticed Buffy's slightly annoyed questioning look. "We would have had a perfectly good plan by now, but we were...interrupted."  
  
"Interrupted?"  
  
"We have a visitor." Willow said, shifting her glance to Angel.  
  
"Who?" Buffy asked.  
  
"It's better you don't know, because we're still trying to figure stuff out." Willow said, fidgeting a bit more. "A developmental stage, if you will."  
  
Buffy narrowed her glance. "Who?"  
  
At the lack of response from her friend, Buffy simply walked around Willow into the kitchen, Angel firmly behind her for support. Nothing could prepare her, however, for what awaited her inside. As soon as her eyes fell upon the visitor, her heart might as well have stopped cold.  
  
"Oh my God." she said, unable to think of anything else to say as Willow slipped quietly back into the kitchen behind her.  
  
At those words, Riley Finn stood up from his seat, tense as he placed his hands into his pockets. He was younger, of course, and dressed in bluish-gray military fatigues, but he was unmistakable.  
  
"Hey Buffy."  
  
The next sound heard was that of Angel's right fist being smashed into the left side of Riley's face with demolishing force. Riley's head rocked back, his feet stumbling an involuntary withdraw. He nearly fell, but gradually regained his composure, though not his dignity. He rubbed his left cheek tenderly, surprised at the strength of Angel's punches even as a human.  
  
"Okay," Riley said, "I deserved that." He glanced over at Buffy. "You told him about the vampires, didn't you?"  
  
Angel looked back at Buffy hesitantly. He hadn't struck Riley because of any vampires. It just seemed the thing to do at the time. "Vampires? What vampires?"  
  
Buffy looked at Riley with scorn. "Riley here used to have female vampires suck off him. He seems to get a real kick out of it. It's one of the many reasons we broke up."  
  
Angel looked back at Riley, anger brewing in his eyes, pleading for an excuse to let it loose. "You had vampires suck off you and then break Buffy's heart, and you think notifying me of this information won't cause me to hit you again, preferably until you lose consciousness?"  
  
"Okay, look," Riley said. "Before you start hitting me again, I came here to help, okay? When this thing went down, I figured you guys might know something about it. So I came down here to help you out or get assistance, and find out what's going on. Willow already explained the situation to me, and I think I have a solution."  
  
"Oh, you do." Angel said, crossing his arms and stepping back to Buffy's side. "This should be interesting."  
  
"We don't need your help, Riley," Buffy said, glaring at his audacity. "We don't want your help."  
  
"Maybe," Riley said, "I think I can be useful somehow. I mean-"  
  
"'Don't want' means 'don't want.'" Buffy said. "We don't need it. We never will. Just do back to Central America or wherever the hell it is you came from."  
  
"Buffy, I don't mean to interrupt," Angel said, his eyes cast down in thought. "but maybe we can use him. He's military personnel. He might have something for us. He is practiced with demons. He might be able to devise a way to fight this thing."  
  
"You're on his side?" Buffy asked, blinking.  
  
"No, I'm not on his side," Angel said, "I'm just saying, we need all the help we can get at this point. The world is going to end in a very short time. Now is not the time for personal differences. I mean, we can wait until it's over to start assaulting him, can't we?"  
  
"I hate your rational thoughts," Buffy said.  
  
"So," Xander said, "how useful is Riley?"  
  
"Well," Willow said, calming down a bit at the newfound unity, "That's what we're trying to figure out."  
  
"You were trying to incorporate Riley into the plan already?" Buffy asked, irritated that she hadn't been notified. Willow nodded. Buffy calmed herself down a bit. "How'd it go?"  
  
"Not good." Willow said, looking down at an old text on the kitchen table. "You see, this is a mystical thing, with really only one demon that we know of involved. And all Riley knows how to do is combat demons physically, which really won't do any good against a presumably immortal demon."  
  
"Okay, who's for assaulting him now?" Xander asked, raising his hand as if to ask for a vote.  
  
"Xander." Tara chided.  
  
"What?" Xander said, shrugging his shoulders. "His worth has been established, and, lo and behold, it's remarkably low."  
  
"Hold on a second," Riley said, lifting a finger to hush Xander's bickering. He looked at Willow. "You said this witch or whatever was trying to gain immortality. That means she's not immortal yet. So, she can be hurt. I think we should just blow her up. I mean, I can get some charges. Someone can distract her while they're being set, and boom. End of story." He noticed the blank stares of the Scoobies directed at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?"  
  
"That's actually a good idea." Buffy said, gaping at her ex.  
  
"Words escape me." Angel retorted, his look one of awe.  
  
"Okay, but what if she has some sort of protection spell set up?" Dawn inquired. "What do we do then?"  
  
"Me and Tara are working on a kind of binding spell to prevent her from doing harm." Willow spoke up.  
  
"Plan on doing it now?" Riley asked.  
  
"The thing is, we don't know what kind of immunities she has. Although she and us," Willow said, gesturing her hand to indicate Tara, "are powerful witches, she has had a couple more centuries practice."  
  
"I see your point." Buffy said.  
  
"So we try the binding spell." Angel said, his arm going around Buffy's waist, his hand falling on her partially exposed belly in a moderately possessive manner. "If it works, we don't need to kill her. Incapacitation works pretty well."  
  
"Question." Riley said. "What if, years from now, she finds a way to get her powers back, and tries to do this again?"  
  
"Riley is actually making sense to me." Angel said, curling his arm a bit and drawing Buffy closer to him. Buffy lightly nuzzled the side of his neck with her cheek. Even with a crisis about to befall them, she still couldn't think of anything else but him. She finally had him, their love renewed in a way she'd never felt before, and now a life was growing inside of her. She'd be damned if some witch would take away all she had. Buffy Summers was through with losing everything good in her life.  
  
"The world really is coming to an end." Xander retorted, smirking snugly.  
  
"Well, I try." Riley said, uncertain if this meant he'd been accepted for the time being into their circle.  
  
"Okay, so we do have to kill her." Angel said, smiling a bit at Buffy's affectionate touch before regaining his sense of seriousness. "How do we go about it? I mean, what if blowing her up doesn't work? We should be working on some failsafe plan, just in case this demon she's summoning happens to surface."  
  
"If the demon emerges, she'll be immortal." Willow said, glancing to her left at Tara and Dawn. "But it has to be birthed into the world. So it would be vulnerable as it was being born."  
  
"We have to kill a baby?" Dawn asked, her voice a bit shrill, showing she was obviously uncomfortable with the idea. "That seems wrong."  
  
"Hopefully, it won't come to that." Buffy said, turning to face Angel. Much to her delight, though she didn't show it, his arms circled around her waist as she did, keeping her close. He didn't want to lose her any more than she didn't want to lose him. That made her happy. "Like you said, she'll be hard-pressed to find a pregnant girl in the world's current situation."  
  
"This just isn't the time for pregnancy," Xander said, settling down into his chair in an attempt to get more comfortable in the hard wooden frame, "besides Buffy."  
  
"Excuse me," Riley said, shock washing over his face. "Buffy's pregnant?!?"  
  
Angel smiled, chuckling to himself at Riley's reaction. "What, they didn't tell you?"  
  
"But I thought the youth spell turned ages back, and I'm pretty sure she wasn't-" Riley paused, his expression changing to that of utter horror. "Oh my God. You and him?"  
  
"Yeah." Buffy said quietly, snuggling into the broad, cozily warm breadth of his chest as if it were the most natural thing in the world, a smile forming on the lips that Angel would be certain to kiss many, many more times in the future.  
  
"Okay, could this be more awkward?" Riley said, taking a seat beside Xander and staring blankly down at the table, his mouth agape.  
  
"I feel fine," Angel said, a rare grin of untold elation gracing his sculpted features. "Actually kind of ecstatic."  
  
Riley had nothing more to verbally contribute. And if he had, they didn't wait to find out. Willow started leafing through the text, stopping to scan a passage handwritten in Latin. "We'll start the binding spell."  
---------- 


	5. Chapter Four: The Prodigal

CHAPTER FOUR: THE PRODIGAL  
  
  
The living room was blanketed in darkness, save for a single candle flickering intensely on the floor. Furniture had been moved to the side to make room for a ritual circle, everyone holding hands to link their energies except for Angel, who was in the kitchen with Riley. A blueprint of the factory had been obtained by him, and was spread out across the table. Due to the ceremony taking place, his only source of illumination was a penlight. As he inspected the plans for strategic areas to place his explosives, Angel was placing a call to Los Angeles to put Wesley and the rest on alert: if something went wrong, it was urgent that they be ready to come to Sunnydale at a moment's notice.  
  
As Angel finished his call, he closed his cell phone and put it in his duster's inside pocket. Glancing over at Riley, he attempted to ease the already thick tension between them. "How's it coming?"  
  
"Just fine." Riley said, not looking up at Angel. "So, you're human now. Must catch you at a disadvantage, what with the lessened strength."  
  
"I don't know about that." Angel said, turning and walking towards the living room. "After all, isn't your jaw still broken?"  
  
Riley smirked a bit, lifting a hand to rub his still aching chin. "Just a hairline fracture."  
  
Angel smiled, not turning to respond. "But a fracture nonetheless."  
  
As Angel entered the living room, he saw everyone circled around Willow, who stared down into the candle before her, the glinting flame casting an eerie sparkling into her eyes, which only added to the sinister atmosphere as her eyes were now solid black as she gazed into the fire. She held in her hand an effigy of the witch Tabitha, most likely enchanted to give the dark powers she was summoning a more accurate representation. She began tying a thin white ribbon around the small doll's head, chanting as the ribbon was spun around the figurine, gradually enclosing it's entire form.  
  
"I bind you, Tabitha," Willow said, her gaze mindless as her instincts took over the completion of the ritual, "I bind you from doing harm against others and harm against yourself. I bind you from causing injury and mischief to those you love and hate alike."  
  
Her words became lost in a mixture of ancient Gaelic and Latin, speaking tongues long since lost in the folds of time. Each time she chanted, the flame of the candle would leap higher and higher, her voice becoming more thunderous with each repetition. Lightning struck outside with deafening force, causing even Tara to be jolted. Still, she kept her eyes closed, intent on fueling Willow's attempt with her aura. Thunder resounded in their ears, so distracting they didn't notice Angel's entrance. He sat on the stairs, content on watching from the shadows as the rite was performed. Willow's voice broke through the resonant claps of thunder with a final cry of appeal. The candle's flame went out, all was dark within the house.  
  
As Willow slowly opened her eyes, they returned to their normal state. Dawn got to her feet, moving to turn the lights on. Once the house was properly illuminated, the rest opened their eyes.  
  
"I think it worked." Willow said, cracking a faint smile at the prospect of success.  
  
Suddenly, a blast from outside shattered the windows, minute shards of glass raining down upon them. The door was forced from it's hinges, soaring through the air, only to collide with the far wall. The walls, however, strangely remained intact. Buffy and the Scoobies were thrown from their sitting positions against the wall as well, each of them hitting violently. Angel was cast backwards, wincing in pain as the edge of a step was driven into his back. His grimace, however, turned into a relaxed expression as his head also stuck a step, rendering him unconscious. Even Riley had been hit with the wave of unseen energy, his body crashing into the refrigerator, the result of which was a rather large dent in the refrigerator doors and Riley knocked to the floor, out cold. Footsteps were heard on the walk outside, gradually increasing in volume as their possessor came into view through what used to be the doorway of the Summers' home.  
  
Tabitha.  
  
"You shouldn't have done that, girl." Tabitha said, stepping into the house. Glass cracked beneath her feet, crushed by the petite sorceress in hopes of intimidation. She hadn't changed out of her ceremonial garment from Angel's previous visit, which showed Buffy she still had hopes of succeeding in her dark quest. Buffy looked over at the others, who hadn't recovered as quickly as she had, but one person stood out above the rest: Angel. She had to get to him, make sure he was all right. She looked around frantically for him, finally spotting him in a cataleptic state. She feared the worst, until his eyes slowly opened, lulled with pain and sleep.  
  
Angel caught a glimpse of Buffy though the injury-induced haze over his eyes. He tried to sit up, but his back had not yet recuperated from the earlier impact. In his stupor, he didn't notice Tabitha advancing for him. The only thing on his mind was Buffy. He tried to focus his eyes on her, tried to see if she had sustained any injuries.  
  
"Buffy...?" Angel said, trying to make her out in the darkness. Little did he know, the darkness he was experiencing was not from nightfall, but the shadow cast over him by Tabitha. Buffy heard her name called from him, relieved he was okay. Her reassurance was short-lived as she shifted her view to Tabitha, who was sketching symbols in the air with her finger. As abruptly as she had come, Tabitha was gone, faded off into oblivion.  
  
The same thing was happening to Angel.  
  
As his form began to grow fainter and die away, Buffy scrambled to her feet frenziedly. After some difficulty, she finally leapt at her transparent lover, but to no avail. Her hand passed through his, his figure diminishing into clarity. Buffy hung from the staircase, her arm through the bars that supported the banister. She was frozen. Tabitha had Angel, and was no doubt infuriated at his having a soul. But worst of all, he was human. He could be hurt. He could be killed. The woman had been shrewd in her plan. She needed a pregnant girl, and Buffy was just that. And she would use Angel to get to her. Buffy saw right through her scheme, but somehow, she couldn't seem to care.  
  
As her friends sluggishly began to regroup, they found Willow lying lifelessly in the heap of wood that had formerly been the front door. Her nose was bleeding, as was a gash on her forehead. No one had even thought of checking on Riley. Buffy fought to keep back tears, but a few managed to escape, rolling softly down her cheeks. Ironically, her heart was wounded at Angel's capturing and needed mending, but the only one who could heal her wounds and kiss away her tears wasn't there. She took a deep breath, steeling herself, fear and grief replaced by anger and hatred. Buffy stared defiantly at the spot where her dearest Angel had previously been.  
  
"Nobody messes with my boyfriend."  
-----  
  
It had been hours since Tabitha had kidnapped him right in front of Buffy's eyes, but to Angel, it had only been minutes. This was due to the fact that he continuously passed out as a result of uninterrupted torture from Tabitha's skilled hands. Hell, he had taught her the finer points of tormenting a captive. When the flesh-searing agony became too much for him, he'd black out. Tabitha, knowing all too well how boring it is to torture an unconscious hostage, waited for him to stir in the slightest to commence what she thought to be well deserved suffering.  
  
Now, her game found his wrists shackled to chains that were mounted to the ceiling, wrought so tightly he had no choice but to stay standing. Having no room to collapse, Tabitha went the next step. She cranked the chains back until his feet left the ground only an inch, leaving him to crucify feebly as his legs dangled beneath him, also chained and shackled to the floor. But Angel would not reward her methods with a scream. He knew how intoxicating that sound was, and a delay in the desired response would prolong his life, and possibly distract her from Buffy's assault.  
  
Yes, he still held hope that she'd come for him, even though he knew it would be for the best if he stayed. He'd rather die than have his love and his child perish for him. He hung from his steel confines limply, beaten and bruised, his chest laden with multiple lacerations from whips, glass, and various other toys Tabitha had around. She had even gone so far as to take a wooden plank from a crate, careful to keep the nails embedded in the wood without bending them, and beating it into his back. He whimpered, he cringed, but he would not scream. Each failed attempt to make him do so saw Tabitha placing the bloody tool on a nearby table, pacing around him as she thought up new ways to make him cower.  
  
He'd been stripped of his duster, shirt, and boots, all articles of clothing but his pants. That area was reserved for "affectionate misery," and had been neglected since he and Darla went their separate ways when his soul was first restored. But that didn't mean Tabitha wouldn't go there anytime soon. His head drooped weakly, his chin alighting upon his chest. He was roused from his foggy state of mind by Tabitha's voice, at which he merely lifted his head enough to see her, for he hadn't the strength to do more. His eyes, almost fully closed from the long duration of pain, strained to concentrate on her in an unsuccessful effort to see what was next in store for him.  
  
Perhaps it was a good thing he couldn't see. For Tabitha was heating up an iron rod in a fire, the tip that was submerged in the flame beginning to glow with sweltering heat. She cracked a smile, offering a glance at the subdued body restrained in iron bonds. Even with all his saintly qualities, she had to admit he still looked as scrumptious as he ever had, especially in bondage. Maybe she wouldn't kill him. Maybe she'd find some way of banishing that horrid soul of his. She was nearly tingling at the aspect of having her Angelus back.  
  
"Just like old times, isn't it Angelus?" Tabitha said, her smile giving away her thoughts towards the bound hero. She took the rod out of the inferno, the end smoking as it pulsated white-hot heat. She moved it near Angel's chest, close to a large wound in the center, letting the lesion soak up the warmth. The boiling heat penetrated into Angel like a dagger, yet all he did was moan and scowl, refusing to cry out.  
  
"Only then, you weren't human." Tabitha continued, pressing the blazing tip into the tip. Finally, she extorted an earsplitting scream from him as the seething pain tore at his mortal flesh, tissue sizzling with stomach-churning pops. "And you weren't soft," she went on, delighted at her new victory, "so I wonder, how much can this body take?" She took the rod away, offering little relief as Angel gasped for air, his breathing hindered by not only the now-charred wound on his chest, but also his binds. He had to lift himself up to breathe efficiently, and this wreaked havoc on his body as the chains held the shackles firm, nearly tugging his legs out of socket. The smell of burnt skin reached Angel's nose, but that was the least of his worries. Tabitha planned on experimenting on the extent of pain his body could withstand. That meant a lot more than hot pokers.  
  
"You have a soul." Tabitha said, persistent in carrying on a conversation with someone who wasn't remotely interested, and was more likely dying of boredom from her constant explaining of things Angel already knew. "You're mortal. And best of all, you're a child. So how much agony can you withstand?"  
  
Angel groaned in anguish as she brought the rod to the seared flesh again, pain coming without making contact. "Haeret lateri lethalis arundo," she whispered in a recognizable tongue, knowing Angel would make out the meaning to be "the iron entered into our soul." She just knew that had Angelus been there, he'd have appreciated that pun. Angel, however, wasn't all that concerned with one-liners coming from his captor in ancient languages.  
  
"Your Slayer will come for you." Tabitha said, giving him a short break by placing the rod on the table with all the other bloodied instruments of her trade. "And when she does, I'll have my immortality. And your baby...your baby will die." She moved closer to him, the pain racking his body only serving as an aphrodisiac, flaming her lust for her Angelus. "And as the world is being sucked into oblivion, you and I will be roommates. I'm going to have him eat your soul." Tabitha moved closer, their lips almost touching. "And then, I'll have my Angelus back."  
  
Angel labored a broken chuckle through his aggrieved condition, causing Tabitha to pull away to face him, her brow furrowing. "What's so funny?"  
  
"I never gave a damn about you, Tabitha." Angel said, endeavoring to smile at the prospect of their being together. He accomplished it, smirking faintly. "With or without a soul, you're nothing to me. As a matter of fact, if I lose my soul, I'll probably kill you without the slightest thought. It'll be better if you're immortal at the time. That'll be more fun for me. I'm going to chain you up, I'm going to torture you until you pray for the sweet release of death." His smirk grew into an almost sadistic grin, and he laughed dimly into her face as he went on. "But it's not going to come. And that, that's going to be something I'll enjoy."  
  
"Oh yeah," Tabitha said nonchalantly, trying to hide both her fright and infuriation, "torture was your thing, wasn't it, Angelus? Let's see how much you like it now." Tabitha turned to her table, her hand reaching for a serrated blade.  
-----  
  
Buffy leaned against the wall next to Dawn's room in wait, her head lowered in worry. Tara emerged from the room, in which they placed a still unconscious Willow. They'd cleaned and bandaged her wounds, and now all they could do was wait. Buffy raised her gaze up to the blonde witch, whose face was contorted with worry, her eyes lined in red from tears.  
  
"How is she?" Buffy asked, her voice sympathetic. They both had a good friend debilitated, but the strain had to be much more on Tara. She loved Willow so much, Buffy wondered if their love equaled the love she and Angel shared. A steadfast love that endured anything the test of time could muster. When she saw how distraught Willow had been when Tara had her mind drained by the hell goddess Glory, and now this troubled girl before her, all doubts were cast aside. Buffy had lost a loved one more times than someone should have to, so she knew the feelings that were racing in Tara's mind.  
  
"She's all right," Tara said, barely looking up at Buffy. She hugged herself, rubbing her arms as she spoke, "She comes in and out. Her head got hit pretty hard." Tara looked down, fighting back tears. Her voice's pitch increased so that it cracked a bit when she talked. "What are we going to do?"  
  
Buffy looked down herself, contemplating their next move. "The binding spell didn't work. She's got Angel. She's going to be expecting me to show up."  
  
At that, Tara raised her head, concerned. "Are you going to go?"  
  
"Of course." Buffy said, laughing in contrast to the tears that stained her cheeks. "I know it's a trap. But I'm still going."  
  
Tara took a deep breath, trying not to cry. She was faced with the possibility of losing two people she cared about, if not the entire world. "Me and Dawn can work on the other spells."  
  
Buffy nodded in affirmation. "Bringing Spike back is kind of a low priority at this point. We should just concentrate on reversing this little youth spell, but we need to stop her tonight. You can do the spell during."  
  
Tara realized she meant doing the enchantment as she was fighting. "But if me and Dawn stay, all you'll have is Xander and Anya to fight."  
  
"Actually, no," Buffy said, averting her gaze from Tara. "With Willow out, you'll need all the help you can get. Xander and Anya are staying here."  
  
Tara looked at her with apprehensive fear apparent on her face. She turned Buffy so their eyes met. "You can't go in there alone. She'll kill you."  
  
Buffy centered her eyes on her, determination clear in her tone. "I'm not going alone."  
-----  
  
Wesley Wyndham-Price quickly moved from the weapons cabinet to a duffel bag on the counter, supplying the empty space inside with dagger, axes, and various other utensils, Gunn packing weapons in his own shoulder bag.  
  
"So we're going to Sunnydale." Gunn said, zipping his bag up and slinging it over his shoulder.  
  
"Yes." Wesley said, keeping it simply put as he knew that time was of the essence and bantering wouldn't get the world saved any faster.  
  
"And Angel got captured?"  
  
"It appears so."  
  
"And the world's going to end in a little over a day?"  
  
"A little under two, depending on how you look at it. And yes." Annoyance filled his tone, and Wesley found himself reminded of his early years as a Watcher-in-training when he learned that orders would be followed immediately. No such luck when he became Buffy Summers' third Watcher. Apparently, his luck hadn't changed.  
  
"Anything I need to know before we get there?"  
  
"Not really. Just your basic, run-of-the-mill Apocalypse."  
  
"Okay," Gunn said, feeling fully prepared mentally and physically. His confidence showed as he called up the stairs. "Cordy, you all set?"  
  
Cordelia made her way down the stairs, her brown hair tied neatly in a ponytail behind her head. She actually found it a comfort to have longer hair again. She wore her usual clothes when she trained with Angel, consisting of perfectly coordinated sweats and tennis shoes, a sword she used when instructed by Angel her only weapon. But she knew this was no exercise. This was real combat.  
  
"As set as one can be." Cordelia said, making her way across the lobby and out the front door to the car.  
  
"I do hope Angel's okay," Wesley said, regarding his former employer with respect as he remembered their newly rebuilt friendship. "If anything should happen-"  
  
He was interrupted in his verbal considerations by a meek brunette peeking downstairs from behind the banister. Wesley chided himself mentally, knowing how fond she was of Angel. He, after all, saved her from the demon dimension Pylea, which had been her hell for five years.  
  
"Fred," Wesley said, sorrow in his voice. "I'm sorry. He's going to be all right. We'll get there."  
  
"I know." Fred replied in a murmur, obviously worried about Angel. He had saved too many lives, suffered so much agony, never overcame his guilt for his actions as a soulless monster yet still strived for atonement so hard. He didn't deserve to die. Not like this.  
  
"Okay," Gunn said, coming in from placing his bag in the car. "We got weapons." He glanced over at the glass display where the weapons were kept. It was bare, save for a few lingering blades. "Damn, English. You took the whole cabinet."  
  
"I thought it best we be prepared." Wesley said, his expression stern. "Tabitha has limited resources at this point. She may enlist the help of some demons or vampires of a young age. And while vampires that are childlike aren't as powerful as adults, there are some demons that happen to be at their peak at youth, so I planned extensively."  
  
"So this is a pretty dire situation we're diving into." Gunn stated, adjusting his jacket, the denim seeming a bit constricting and uncomfortably hot at this point. "Doesn't the Slayer have help already there? We might need it."  
  
"Well, as she told it to me," Wesley said, fiddling with his glasses, "she's going alone."  
  
"You know what?" Gunn said, turning and strolling towards the door. "I think you were right."  
  
"About what?" Wesley asked, puzzled as he followed Gunn out.  
  
"We're doomed."  
-----  
  
"I can't just wait on them, Tara," Buffy said, sitting next to her on the couch. She was on the brink of sobbing, but she knew she had to stay strong. Wesley and the rest would be there soon, and then they could end this once and for all. But it was getting too hard to bear. Dreadful thoughts raced through her mind about what was happening to Angel. "He's human. They can hurt him so badly."  
  
"The smart thing to do is to wait for them to get here." Tara said, laying a comforting hand on Buffy's knee. "I mean, if we can do this world restoration thing early...that's our first priority, just stopping it, if anything."  
  
"Need anything from me?" Buffy asked quietly, trying to distract herself from the horrid visions of Angel being impaled or worse that flooded her mind.  
  
"No," Tara said, "Me and the guys got it done on this end. We're going to do a spell to stop the age reduction as soon as possible." Tara looked down for a moment, as if she was about to give more bad news. Buffy caught sight of it. "Buffy, the fault line...the San Andreas fault...it's going to be trouble in about two hours."  
  
"How long will it take you to do the spell?" Buffy asked, trying to conceal her worry, but her voice cracked anyway. All she could think of was getting to Angel. If she could save him from Tabitha, she could save the rest of the world too. But if she lost Angel, she's lost all hope as well.  
  
"An hour and a half if all goes smoothly." Tara said, striving to stay calm for Buffy's sake. "We should be fine until we can find a way to actually turn the time back to what it should be. But how often do things go smoothly?"  
  
Buffy sighed, looking at the clock mounted on the wall. "I wish they'd hurry up."  
  
"Well," Tara said, standing and moving towards the kitchen, "we're going to start now."  
  
Five minutes later, the Scoobies had re-gathered their circle, sans Buffy. Tara sprinkled some crushed herbs onto a small fire she had built on a saucer. The flames leapt up, turning bluish-white. Tara began her mantra. "Father Time, hear Mother Earth's plea. She cries out to you for your help. She needs you. Her wounds bleed the essence of being. Life is dwindling, flickering away as this flame. It does so without your command. I invoke thee. I request your assistance in righting what is wrong, and punishing those who have trespassed on your sacred rites."  
  
Tara exhaled slowly, breaking the circle by letting go of Dawn's and Anya's hands. "Okay, now we do the ritualistic stuff. Which means older languages...Willow knew this so much better than me." She looked around at the group. "We need pictures of the way things used to be, how their supposed to be, so he can get an idea of just how much this lady screwed up."  
  
They all tossed pictures of themselves into the fire that they had previously cut out, the flames bursting into the air, flickering a dark blue color.  
  
"Okay, was that supposed to happen?" Xander asked, staring up at the ceiling as the flames kissed it.  
  
"I don't know." Tara said, gazing into the heart of the fire.  
-----  
  
Angel hung limply from his bonds, making faint sounds of pain as he slightly swung on his chains. His chest was covered in streams of blood from countless stab wounds and slashes. Although they weren't deep, there was enough of them to feed the rivers of crimson so that quite a pool of blood had collected beneath him. His pants were darker for it, drenched in the scarlet tide.  
  
"Come on now, Angelus." Tabitha said mockingly, playing the tip of the blade over his chest in a seductive manner, "You're not going to fade on me now, are you? I have so many fun things in store for you. How are you feeling?"  
  
Angel managed to lift his head to see the arrogant smirk on his subjugator's face. The mere fact that he still carried on his brave front astonished her, but not as much as the fact that he was still alive. Still, she was unrelenting. Angel recalled a comment made to him in a similar situation, and decided to respond accordingly, even though it could result in pain even more excruciating.  
  
"Never better." Angel said, smiling faintly.  
  
Tabitha's smirk grew wider. "So, I meant nothing to you? It's just as well. Makes it all that much easier for me to kill you." Tabitha looked down at her watch, and her smile faded. "Okay, where in the hell is that girlfriend of yours?" she asked impatiently, slamming the knife down on the table. "She should be here by now."  
  
Angel gave a motion that, had he been unbound, would have been considered as a shrug. "Maybe she knows it's a trap."  
  
"Oh come on!" Tabitha said, looking at Angel in contempt. "Of course it's a trap! But she loves you. It wouldn't make a difference. No, something's wrong." Angel feared that Tabitha was incorrect in her presumption. What else could go wrong tonight?  
  
Tabitha smiled fiendishly, walking back over to the table and picking up a longer, double-edged blade with jagged ridges. "I think I'll pay her another visit." She leered at Angel. "That's the ultimate torture for you, isn't it? You watching me torture her, her writhing in agony and pain, you screaming for me to spare her, until she finally dies. But I'm going to take it one step further. You get to watch her die after your baby is transformed into the demon that will damn you all! God, I'm good!"  
  
Suddenly, Tabitha fell back onto the floor. The cause: an arrow had just been shot into her right shoulder. She shrieked in pain, pulling the shaft out of her and tossing it to the ground, getting to her feet and dusting herself off. She was definitely irritated. "Okay, who's the little archer out here, hmm? I have had a very, very bad day, and the last thing I need is for an arrow to be thrust into my chest." Tabitha looked around the warehouse, paranoia setting in. "Is it you, Blondie?" Her voice became tauntingly sing-songy. "Where are you, Slayer? I'm waiting..."  
  
A fist was driven into Tabitha's face, knocking her back to the floor. Standing above her, daring her to get back up, was a brunette clad in purple leather pants and jacket, black boots and a white baby tee topping the ensemble off. Defiance was in her smile as she noted the crossbow in her hand. "Wrong Slayer, lady."  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Tabitha demanded feebly.  
  
The girl didn't answer. She simply pushed a nearby crate onto Tabitha, then turned her attention to Angel, smiling a bit more warmly with recognition. "Hey Soul Boy."  
  
Angel squinted his eyes to focus, but he didn't need to. Though she was younger, her choice in clothing and her attitude, her coy smile and the bold, rebellious air about her told Angel what he already knew.  
  
"Faith?"  
  
Faith smirked at him, walking over and running a fingertip across a small, unharmed portion of skin on his chest. "The one and only."  
  
"What are you doing here?" Angel asked weakly, surprised at her presence.  
  
"What?" Faith said, smiling playfully, "No 'Hi, how are you?' or gratitude for saving your ass?"  
  
Angel beamed faintly. "Hi, how are you?"  
  
"You know me," Faith said, working at picking the locks on the shackle that held his right hand with practiced ease. "Five by five."  
  
She loosed his hand, then set on unlocking the second with the small, thin utensils she brought along just for this. Once his arms were free, he expected to fall, but Faith held him firmly, setting his feet carefully on the ground. Seeing he was weak, she supported him by putting his arm around her neck and steadying his back with her arm.  
  
"Thanks." Angel said, not having the strength to say much more.  
  
"Don't mention it." Faith replied, smiling widely as she began moving towards the exit.  
  
"Okay," Angel said, trying to ease her burden a bit by trying to walk on his own. He was shaky, but he succeeded. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"It's like this," Faith began, "the Department of Corrections and the prison system don't run all that smoothly when all the big shots have been reduced to little kids. Pretty easy to get out. I was hoping to stop by Angel Investigations. You know, pay you a little visit. Only, you weren't there. So I eavesdropped on your little buddies, got the 411 that you were in trouble, and voila! Instant rescue."  
  
"You came to help me." Angel said, feeling a bit better at the idea that not only was everyone involved, but Faith actually cared. She came to his aid, and he couldn't think of a better way for her to start her own quest for redemption.  
  
"What are friends for?" Faith said, stabilizing him as he began to falter.  
  
"Where did they go?" Angel asked, steadying his legs as he nodded to Faith that he'd give walking on his own another try.  
  
"They went to your girlfriend's house." Faith said, walking along side him. "Guess they plan on assaulting this place." Without warning, a flaming green ball of energy whizzed past Faith's head, hitting the nearby wall and exploding, leaving a car-sized hole gaping where wood and steel used to be.  
  
"Looks like you didn't knock her out like you thought you did." Angel said, looking back at an infuriated witch before breaking off into as fast of a run as he could, trailing behind Faith as she yelled back at him to keep moving and to run faster. They dashed into the network of crates, hiding from Tabitha's view. Once they were safe for a moment, Faith picked then to continue their conversation.  
  
"So, Buffy's pregnant?" Faith said, grinning slightly.  
  
Angel looked at her incredulously. "Does everybody know that?"  
  
Faith's grin augmented. "You didn't waste any time, did you?" A blast hit a crate close by, sending splinters of wood and unknown contents strewn across the floor. "Don't worry, I know a back way out of here."  
  
Angel shadowed Faith's movements as she maneuvered through the wooden labyrinth. Just as it seemed they had reached salvation, a man stepped from the shadows in front of them. His voice was low and guttural as his eyes fell upon Angel. "You."  
  
"Oh great." Angel said, nearly crumpling to the floor. Faith looked between the two, puzzled and exasperated at the same time. She noticed the bald guy had a bow in his hand.  
  
"Who is this guy?" Faith asked intolerantly.  
  
"That's Darien," Angel said, sighing that his day just couldn't get any worse. "He's her little puppy."  
  
"Silence, fool." Darien said, wielding the bow upwards, yet away from Faith and Angel.  
  
"Just put the bow down." Angel said, trying to reason with someone who obviously, when intent on doing something, couldn't be reasoned with.  
  
"These are enchanted arrows," Darien said, grinning, "they'll penetrate anyone's chest. And when they do, they have enough power to send them at least twenty five feet backwards."  
  
"Are you going to talk or are you going to shoot us?" Faith asked, growing very impatient.  
  
"I'm not going to shoot you," Darien said, cocking the bow, "you're not the one who took my beloved away from me. Come on."  
  
Shocked at the turnabout, but deciding not to ask questions, Angel and Faith followed Darien through the towers of boxes to a back door. Once outside, Darien stayed at the door to ensure they weren't followed. Then Angel saw something he never thought he'd see again.  
  
Something he was, after tonight, absolutely never going to take for granted.  
  
Buffy's smile.  
---------- 


	6. Chapter Five: Restoration

CHAPTER FIVE: RESTORATION  
  
  
Buffy's joy couldn't have been more evident than at that moment. Tears engulfed her face as she saw Angel coming towards her. She was but a few yards away, and broke off into a vigorous sprint to close the gap between them. Her boot heels pounded against the asphalt as she finally reached him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him fervently. Angel winced as her body pressed against his wounds, but he decided that this was a far sweeter form of pain, and let her hold him. Realizing just how much they had missed each other, he exhaustedly draped his arms around her waist, welcoming the warmth of her body as opposed to the cold steel and blazing metal he had faced earlier.  
  
Buffy nearly sobbed as she held him, her worst fears invalidated. She felt him cringe and pulled back enough to look upon his chest. What she saw made her want to cry and hold him until forever faded away. He'd been tortured, gashes and abrasions covering his torso. She ran a finger delicately over a few wounds, appalled to find that they were scorched. She looked up into Angel's eyes, about to tumble over for what this dear man had endured for her.  
  
"Angel," Buffy said, finding no hint of pain in his eyes. All she saw was unrelenting love, swimming freely in those shimmering pools of chocolate brown, moist with his own tears. "Are you okay?"  
  
Angel merely nodded, feeling faint from all he had undergone. "I've been better," he said, tucking a stray lock of her hair behind her ear, "but I've been worse, too."  
  
Buffy smiled slightly, remorseful for what had happened to Angel. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a large, hairless man and behind Angel, a brunette she found to look seemingly familiar. She nodded towards the girl. "Who's that?"  
  
Faith smiled herself, giving a casual wave towards Buffy. "Hey B."  
  
"Faith?" Buffy said, not quite knowing what to say at this new development.  
  
"She came with us," Wesley said, catching up to Buffy. Buffy had almost forgotten running into Wesley and the others as she was walking towards the warehouse. "She's...on parole."  
  
Buffy noticed Wesley's uneasiness as he made his last statement, shooting a glance towards Faith. "Parole. For murder."  
  
Faith noted the subtle disbelieving tone in Buffy's voice, choosing to stay silent. Angel lowered his head, partly due to the sharp aching that battered every part of his body. "Let it go, Buffy," he said, groaning quietly, "She came to help."  
  
"Everyone's come to help, haven't they?" Buffy said, not knowing how to feel about Faith's arrival. One the one hand, Faith had done some terrible things to her. On the other, she'd rescued Angel and seemed to genuinely want to help them. "One big happy reunion."  
  
Gunn, who was the person farthest from the discussion as Cordelia, Riley, and Wesley were in front of him, noticed something rather peculiar. Mostly the woman with a killer body and an even more deadly glow enveloping her hands. "Let me guess," he spoke up, "That's the bad guy...er, girl."  
  
Tabitha was livid, not at all amused by the brunette Slayer's antics. She was about to send a bolt through her chest, when everyone looked towards her, including someone she didn't expect to be there.  
  
"Darien?" Tabitha said, not quite comprehending the situation. "What are you doing, honey?"  
  
"Foul demon," Darien said, clenching his teeth, "don't you address me affectionately. You took my Kathleen away from me."  
  
Tabitha just shrugged, smirking. "Duh. God, it only took you close to a millennium to figure it out."  
  
"How could you?" Darien said, boiling. His emotions diverted his attention from his weapon and his grasp loosened on it. Tabitha spotted it, and knew that he wouldn't dare use such a primitive weapon on her unless he had properly prepared it. She sneered at him.  
  
"It was easy. Like this." With those words, Tabitha lifted her hand and expelled a green ball of energy from her palm, striking Darien square in his chest with a tremendous explosion. His body sailed backwards, thudding on the asphalt brutally as his bow splintered into pieces beside him. Tabitha showed no interest in his welfare. "Any other stupid questions?" she asked, leering at Buffy.  
  
Buffy didn't look back at the others, speaking in a whisper through gritted teeth. "Riley, go. Set the charges. Take Gunn with you."  
  
Riley nodded at the hushed command, running off into a nearby alley with Gunn, searching for an alternative way in. As they left, Buffy stared at Tabitha icily as the witch scorned her with a smile.  
  
"So, Slayer," Tabitha said, taking small steps towards her, "come to give me your unborn child? So thoughtful of you. You really shouldn't have."  
  
Buffy narrowed her eyes, speaking firmly. "You're not touching my baby."  
  
"Why not?" Tabitha scoffed, indicating Angel with a nod. "Touched that one, didn't I?"  
  
"And that you'll pay for." Buffy stated, an audacious tone that was full of disrespectful steadiness.  
  
"He's only a little worse for wear," Tabitha went on, "nothing like what little girl inside of you is going to feel." Tabitha noticed Buffy's face grow meeker, and smiled. "I ruin the surprise, Slayer? I see distress all around you."  
  
"That's not distress," Buffy said, steeling herself. Now she knew. She was having a daughter. She had to make the world safe for her. "That's disappointment. Disappointment that I won't be able to see you suffer when you die."  
  
"Is that a fact?" Tabitha said, her voice quieter. She may have made a mistake by goading the Slayer on. She thought to distract her, but she may have just given Buffy the competitive edge she needed. "You could always give yourself up. Because, whatever your friends went off to do? They'll find that I'm just full of surprises."  
-----  
  
Riley and Gunn ran through the warehouse, darting through various passageways at a brisk pace. Riley held his blueprint, trying with some difficulty to read it as they went along. "We have to place charges in this center facility," Riley said, indicating the spot with his finger. "There's about three thousand pounds of high grade propane in there. Add a few dozen packs of C4, and boom! No more Apocalypse."  
  
Gunn looked down at the paper as he ran. "According to the plan, it should be right..." He turned the corner, stopping in his tracks. "...here."  
  
In the room, stewing about, were dozen of adolescent vampires in full game face, ready to feed. What seemed like hundreds of golden eyes looked upon them, pulsating with demonic hunger. Slowly, they began advancing towards them.  
  
"Oh God." Gunn said, his eyes wide as he took a stake from inside of his jacket.  
  
"How many are there?" Riley asked, contemplating at what Gunn thought to be the wrong time to be contemplating.  
  
Gunn took a quick scan of them, shifting his eyes rapidly over the mass of leeches. "Thirty, at the most. That's a lot of kiddie vamps. What do we do?"  
  
"Running comes to mind." Riley said, turning for the door. Only, a throng of vampires had accumulated behind them as well.  
  
"Okay," Gunn said, looking at his stake with a look in inadequacy. "Thirty more. What do we do now?"  
  
"Again, running comes to mind." Riley said, an unsure look in his eyes as both gatherings pressed forward to get at their self-delivered morsels. "But, not an option right now. Going to have to fight them off."  
  
"Using what?" Gunn said, lowering his arm as well as the stake. "Toothpicks?"  
  
"If all else fails." Riley said, unzipping the black Kevlar vest that he wore and reaching inside. "Until then," he continued, pulling out five hand grenades, "we use these."  
  
"You had grenades and you wanted to run?" Gunn asked, rolling his eyes. "God. White people." Gunn took a grenade for himself, pulling the pin. "See, that's why you don't live in L.A." He threw the explosive into the crowd, the blast dusting half of them instantly in a rain of fire and ash.  
-----  
  
"Come to slay me, have you Buffy?" Tabitha said, ridiculing Buffy by making a mimed gesture of staking a vampire.  
  
Buffy shrugged and nodded. "That was the general idea."  
  
"You want me?" Tabitha said, through with petty quips. "Come and get me."  
  
Buffy's body tensed, her senses tuned to the witch's every movement, no matter how slight. Buffy sprinted, leaped onto a dumpster with expert skill and flipped over Tabitha's head, landing a drop kick that cracked the back of Tabitha's skull. Tabitha was driven forward, lost her balance, and fell to the street, angry that the Slayer had actually caused her pain.  
  
Buffy looked over at Wesley. "Go to my house and take them with you. The spells are liable to exert Tara and she's going to need the extra assistance."  
  
Wesley nodded and started off, Fred and Cordelia in his wake. Angel watched them disappear into the night and shot a glance back at Buffy. "What about you?"  
  
Buffy looked down at the witch, who hadn't yet recovered. "I'll be fine. Just go. Hurry."  
  
Wesley had gotten to the end of the street when he halted, looking behind him at the two women. "Wait. Where's Angel and Faith?"  
-----  
  
Angel had gone to Darien's side, kneeling by the fallen sorcerer. Blood flowed freely from his mouth and nose, and, from what Angel could tell, the injuries were internal and severe. Darien didn't have long. He looked up at Angel as he knelt by him, struggling to speak past the blood collecting in his mouth.  
  
"Don't try to talk." Angel said, unsure on how to, if he could, treat Darien's wounds. Any attempt to save his life would probably be in vain. Darien grasped Angel's hand tightly, obviously in excruciating pain.  
  
"You," he said, his breathing gurgled by blood, the fluid halting his speech, "were granted a soul. You...you can redeem yourself. Let me...redeem...my wrongs." Darien winced, groaning loudly as his internal organs were punctured by bone fragments in his chest. "You...told me...I had a chance...to...right them all." Darien reached a bloody hand inside of his tunic, removing a broadsword. The blade was but three feet in length, though elaborately crafted. It gleamed in the moonlight, casting a reflection of light upon Angel's eyes, as if some sort of omen.  
  
"The sword," Darien continued, feeling his life slip away, "is enchanted...same as the bolts. Even if she...becomes immortal...the full-fledged effects won't occur until...the demon...has...been fully birthed." Darien nodded as he saw Angel understood. "Once that happens, it's...too late. But...you have a chance. Drive this...into...her heart...vanquish her."  
  
Angel took the sword deftly in his hand, looking upon the man not as an enemy, but a victim of the evil that permeated the earth everyday. "May you..." Darien went on, "...atone...for...your sins......Angel..."  
  
Darien's heart ceased, his breathing finally stilling as his body went limp. Angel touched his fingers to Darien's eyes, respectfully closing them. He regarded the former warlock with newfound admiration. "Kathleen would have been proud of you." he said quietly, standing. Enough blood had been shed, enough lives had been lost. It had to end now.  
-----  
  
Buffy threw a fierce punch, her arm nearly whistling as it cut the air. Tabitha moved so quickly that Buffy couldn't counter. She dropped down beneath the arc of Buffy's attack and the punch passed above her head, allowing her to kick out at Buffy's stomach. The Slayer staggered backward as the foot caught her gut, but she regained her balance enough to avoid the witch's follow-up punch. Buffy launched a high kick that caught Tabitha's chin and rocked her back.  
  
As she was falling, Tabitha yelled out words in some long forgotten language, discharging a purplish wave from her hands that hit Buffy head on. The amethyst ripple of energy enclosed around Buffy, trapping her in mystical power. Buffy felt a sudden pain burst through her stomach like a jagged blade, and knew it to be her child. Tabitha had caught her.  
  
"Too little, too late, Slayer." Tabitha said scornfully as Buffy cried out in agony. "Have you chosen a name for your baby? Because you should know what to call your Master once he comes to put you in vast torment." Tabitha narrowed her eyes, her pupils dilating as she raised her arms for the incantation. "I invoke thee, Alhtaca! Claim this unborn child for your own! Use it's soul! Arise! Arise, and grant me my own wish of an endless existence! Perpetual life in your service! Arise! Arise!!!"  
-----  
  
Wesley was rifling through his duffel bag when Tara called to him. "Did you bring everything?" she asked, lighting a red candle to begin the necessary spell. Wesley had arrived at the Summers' residence with Cordelia and Fred some time ago, yet there was no word from Angel or either of the Slayers.  
  
"I should have all these ingredients, yes." Wesley said, looking down at the list Tara had provided for him. He collected a few vials and bottles, leaving his bag on the kitchen table as he entered the living room, providing Tara with the materials he had gathered. "Fred is going online to see if anyone's reported a halting in the Earth's age reduction."  
  
Tara nodded, setting a few herbs around the wick of the candle. Fred came downstairs in a hurried manner, having hooked her laptop up in Dawn's room. She brimmed with excitement, tapping Wesley on the shoulder. "It stopped!"  
  
"So," Xander said, smacking Anya's hand away from a vial of blue viscous liquid, "we're good now, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Tara said, "now all we have to do is turn the time back to it's rightful position. It may be Buffy's only hope. Tabitha won't want to become immortal as an old hag."  
  
"So what are we waiting for?" Dawn said.  
  
"I agree with the Itty Bitty Summers," Xander said, "no time like the present to stop the world from being destroyed. Because hey, the future? Too late."  
-----  
  
"Can you feel it, Slayer?" Tabitha mocked, circling the energy dome that contained Buffy. "The demon child inside of you, the spawn of pure evil. The seed is boiling, and it's going to burst out. You know what? I think I'll let you live." Tabitha tapped on the dome, teasing Buffy, who thrashed about in misery. "After he rips through your very soul, not to mention your body, to come to this world, I want you to witness the new beginning. I want you to see what your little daughter does to the world and people you love so very much. She'll throw the entire world into endless black, and I'll be there to watch it all. Hell, I'll be participating."  
  
Buffy's screams were muffled by the field that contained her, not that Tabitha noticed. "I wanted to be immortal for dear Angelus, but since that plan's out the window, I guess I'll have to settle for an omnipotent demon. A girl's got to have her standards." Tabitha smiled deviously as she watched Buffy writhing and crying out for relief, for Angel. "Don't worry, Slayer. It'll be all over soon. Just five more minutes, and you'll be watching the new Creation."  
-----  
  
Gunn dove behind a nearby crate as an explosion shook the building, Riley falling beside him. The damn vampires were agile due to their age, and it was like shooting ants with a pellet gun.  
  
"How many grenades do you have left?" Gunn asked, readying his stake and preparing to hand Riley one of his own.  
  
Riley wiped the powdery remains of those he had dusted off his brow, accepting the stake just in case. "Five. How many vampires?"  
  
Gunn peered over the top of the crate, then sat down again quickly, blinking. "Five."  
  
Riley nodded. "No use wasting a grenade on them."  
  
"Right." Gunn said, breaking apart the crate they were taking cover behind to add to their arsenal. They rushed out from the crate, Riley lunging at a vampire and staking it, falling upon dust as he hit the ground. Gunn kicked one away and backhanded another, whirling and staking a third. It exploded into cinders. Riley saw a vampire running as him and threw it over his shoulder, allowing Gunn to plant a piece of crate deep within it's heart. It too vanished into dust. The other two began to run away, but Gunn and Riley flung their remaining stakes at their backs. Luck was with them, and the hearts were punctured. Nothing was left in the room but sixty piles of ash.  
  
"Charges?" Gunn said, nodding towards the propane tank.  
  
"Charges." Riley agreed, walking over to the tank's gauge and placing a rack of twelve squares below it, each square full of high grade C4 explosive. Riley tapped a few buttons on the electronic timer until it read three minutes.  
  
"Wait," Gunn interjected, "the chick said five. Buffy won't have time to come out. Set it for five."  
  
"But the demon-"  
  
"Set it for five." Gunn declared firmly, annoyed.  
  
"I don't want Buffy dead as much as you do," Riley said, "but we have to stop the world from ending. Better a few lives than the entire universe, don't you think?"  
  
Gunn stared at him for a moment, then smacked him upside his head. "Set the damn charges for five minutes!"  
  
Riley sighed and went back to adjusting the timer, waiting until Gunn averted his eyes. Riley set the timer for four and a half minutes. "Four and thirty seconds," he said to himself, "close enough."  
-----  
  
"You feel time ticking away?" Tabitha said, unrelenting in her tortuous mockery, to which Buffy wasn't aware. She was too concerned with the evil thing ripping at her insides. Tabitha snickered. "Soon I'll be immortal. And nothing will ever be able to stop me. And once the world is enveloped in eternal hell, I'll be Queen of all I survey. In fact, I'm thinking of making you my little pet Slayer."  
  
As the spell began to take it's course on Buffy, Tabitha was interrupted, being hurled to the floor as an arrow struck her shoulder, a quarter inch from her last wound. She stood furiously, ripping the shaft out. "Why the hell do you feel the compulsion to do that? Stop with the arrows in the chest already!"  
  
Faith slowly stepped out of the shadows in front of Tabitha. "How do you feel about a dagger?" she retorted, dropping the crossbow and wielding the blade into the light.  
  
Tabitha nearly giggled with amusement. "Little girl, I became more powerful than a Slayer one hundred and thirty three years ago." She took small, measured steps towards Faith. "In fact, I've actually killed one before. But two in one night, now that'll be something."  
  
Faith smiled in mock sweetness, then brought her arm up swiftly, bringing the blade down into Tabitha's left eye with remarkable velocity. Blood spurted forth from the wound, gushing far-reaching fountains of red as Tabitha doubled over in pain, clutching the handle of the dagger. With great difficulty, she yanked it out of her skull, tearing the eye and various portions of flesh out with it. She screamed hysterically, seizing her wound as more blood flowed out.  
  
"My eye!" Tabitha shrieked, stumbling to the table. "You bitch! I can't be immortal like this!" She began hyperventilating, wheezing as she sketched a few symbols in the air with her finger. Buffy's cries slowly died as the ritual was paused, Tabitha reaching for a vial of pulsing white liquid. She poured it over her injury, waiting. Her gasping gradually calmed, veins, muscle, and tissue reforming in the eye socket until the ocular was fully repaired, not a hint of the vicious attack left.  
  
Tabitha drew a few marks in the air once more, and Buffy screamed as the ceremony continued. Tabitha glowered at Faith's direction, only she wasn't there. "You put a delay to my dream. Not smart." She scanned her surroundings, trying to locate the rogue Slayer. "Where'd you go? Come on out, wherever you are. I won't hurt you...much." Tabitha paused, then shrugged. "Okay, so I will, but is that any reason to hide? I mean, are you scared of little old me?"  
  
That brought Faith out of hiding. She leapt down off a nearby rafter, smirking. "Not really."  
  
"Oh, but you should be." Tabitha said, glaring. "In about ten seconds, you're going to hear an ear-piercing scream from your friend over there, and that will signal his coming. And once he comes here..." Tabitha's voice trailed off into maniacal laughter as Buffy screamed stridently, a horn emerging from a portal of some sort in her womb, just a fraction of the monster that would annihilate them all. "Just in time." Tabitha pronounced.  
  
Tabitha noted that Faith had a rather arrogant smile on her face. And the smile seemed to be...bigger. Not by much, but enough to make Tabitha look twice. She was looking a little taller. Tabitha looked down at her own body, her eyes wide in denial as her waist began to expand, her flesh wilting away to a mere wrinkled shell of what it had been.  
  
Faith just grinned. "Just in time."  
-----  
  
Gunn was running with Riley behind him, seeing the sun starting to rise from a doorway just ahead, when he suddenly stopped, looking over at his associate. His eyes were wide open with awe and exhilarating cheerfulness, but Riley didn't understand why.  
  
"Guy," Gunn said, looking both Riley and himself over to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, "we're ourselves again."  
  
"Were we...anyone else?" Riley asked, confused.  
  
Gunn's face fell. Leave it to this guy to ruin a moment. Gunn smacked Riley upside his head again. "No, we're ourselves. As in, our right ages."  
  
"Oh." Riley said, rubbing the back of his head. "So, we won?"  
  
Gunn looked to the oncoming dawn. "I'm not sure about that. Come on, let's see what English can tell us." Gunn took off out of the door, letting Riley in front of him to show the way to the Summers' home.  
-----  
  
Tabitha let out a feral growl, hoarse with her aging. She lifted a decrepit hand, threatening Faith was the prospect of death, a threat that really didn't strike fear in Faith's heart since it came from a woman who looked like her great grandmother. That is, if her great grandmother had been a crack addict.  
  
"You did this to me!" Tabitha lashed, moving towards Faith as fast as her dilapidated legs could carry her. "You've spoiled everything for me! I'll kill you!" She swept her hand towards Faith, but instead of the majestic display of magic she expected, there only came a spark. She had lost her powers. Infuriated, she turned towards Buffy, only to find that a group of teenagers had somehow shattered her barrier and were helping the blonde Slayer up. All had been ruined.  
  
Willow touched the bandage on her head after Tara, Xander, and Anya helped Buffy to her feet. Wesley approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder as Faith ran by to check on her Slayer sister. "Are you all right?" he asked.  
  
"Fine," Willow said, smiling softly, "binding spell just took a lot out of me. Nothing a few months in bed won't cure."  
  
"Gunn and the others claimed that they've dispatched the vampires." Wesley said, turning to exit with the rest of the group. "It should be smooth sailing from here on out."  
  
Willow nodded and left the warehouse with the others, but she didn't notice Tabitha taking a doll out of her tunic. It was the first effigy Willow had used on her. Steadily, she began to unravel the ribbon around the figurine's body. As it fell to the floor, Tabitha giggled insanely, lifting her hands and chanting in ancient dialect, a purplish ball of energy forming in her grasp. She let it loose towards the door, the pulsing orb soaring towards Buffy.  
  
It crashed into her back, sending her toppling to the street. Tabitha's diabolical laughter had yet to cease as the demon she had worked so hard to loose upon the earth began materializing from Buffy's womb once more. Willow and the others looked on helplessly as a massive paw twice the size of Buffy's head jutted out of her stomach, the mystical gateway over Buffy's abdomen widening to accommodate the demon's cumbersome size. All seemed to be lost as the demon reared it's ugly, four-horned head out of Buffy's body, it's red on back eyes looking upon the Scoobies with great contempt.  
  
All of a sudden, Tabitha screamed as if she was experiencing unbearable torment. As the group strained to see what was causing her grief, they were interrupted by the demon's sudden vanishing, as it disappeared in a brilliant flash of temporal energy. As the smoke cleared, Buffy raised her head weakly to see the point of a blade protruding from Tabitha's chest, positioned to destroy her heart.  
  
And gripping the sword behind her, battered but very much an adult, was Angel.  
  
He tore the sword away, Tabitha's lifeless body dropping to it's knees before falling limply upon it's face. Angel let the sword plummet to the ground, his broad shoulders heaving with pain and exertion. Buffy saw that he was still human, and the realization hit her. He was going to stay.  
  
Willow beamed, seeing Angel was the age he was when turned instead of nearly three hundred years old. A smile made it's way onto each and every one of their faces. They had persisted, lasted, and survived. True, they still lived on a Hellmouth, but things would be much more interesting. Angel, Buffy, their child. So much had happened in a week.  
  
They had little time to ponder these things, for Buffy moaned and whimpered as if still injured. As the Scoobies looked down at her, they saw her belly growing at an alarming rate. The baby was aging as well, and Buffy looked as if she was six months pregnant. Willow and Tara stooped to assist her, holding her hands. Willow, who came prepared, took a flask from her pocket. She rolled up Buffy's baby tee a bit, for, being a baby tee, it didn't have far to go over a now-eight-month-pregnant stomach. She sprinkled a few drops on Buffy's abdomen, the beads absorbed instantly into Buffy's skin.  
  
Buffy's groans of pain slowly silenced, and she looked up at Willow questioningly. Willow smiled. "Been working on that since I found out," she said, "takes away the pain. But the baby will be born soon." Willow looked up at Xander, Riley, and Gunn. "You three help her to the car."  
  
The men did as they were told, gently supporting Buffy as they walked over to the automobile. As Buffy laid down in the back seat, her water broke. She cast a worried glance up to Tara, who in turn cast one at Willow. The redhead just nodded reassuringly. "You'll be fine. It'll be a quick birth, and you should even recover rapidly. You'll be back to full Slayer status in no time. Just stay calm."  
  
Buffy hadn't the chance to respond. A colossal explosion decimated the warehouse in seconds, and what wasn't incinerated was sent yards away, charred. The detonation was so immense, it shattered the windows in the car. Buffy and the group could only stare in terror.  
  
For Angel was still inside.  
  
Buffy rasped, trying to breathe after what she just witnessed, her breath taken away by her body's natural yet involuntary reaction to birth the child inside of her. Thoughts flooded her mind. Angel. Their daughter. Their family. Their life. It couldn't have been ended so quickly. Both of them had fought so hard their entire lives, but never so much as tonight. They not only battled for the world, but for each other, only to have their happiness jiggled in front of them teasingly then yanked away to wither in the wind. This couldn't be happening.  
  
The Scoobies stayed with Buffy to comfort her, all except Xander, who went with the staff of Angel Investigations. He knew how much Angel meant to Buffy, and he wouldn't let him die and crush her again. He couldn't stand it. Even he knew those two belonged together, and he'd be damned if he let Fate deal his friend another cruel hand.  
  
Wesley and Gunn feverishly dug at the rubble, trying to clear away enough of the debris to find their comrade. Cordelia and Xander burrowed alongside them, Fred left to chew her nails in worry. Finally, Cordelia noticed a hand extending from the wreckage. She cleared away as much of the ruins as she could from his body, Xander tossing chunks of wood and cement aside. Little by little, the body was exposed. When Cordelia caught sight of it, she gasped, touching her hand to her mouth. Xander's eyes widened at the scene. It was Angel, with one difference.  
  
An iron rod was jutting out of his stomach, blood streaming from the wound and his lips. He gagged and coughed, choking on his own blood, too weak and beaten to lift himself off. He was slowly dying. Cordelia called Wesley and Gunn over to him, each of them stooping to survey the damage.  
  
Angel somehow realized he had people around him, and strained to muster enough energy to lift his head. His eyes met Xander's, and he smiled faintly. "Did she..." Angel said feebly, "...have...the baby?"  
  
Xander nodded, feigning a smile, for as much as he and Angel had never gotten along, he finally distinguished Angel from Angelus, and regretted ever wishing him dead. For it seemed that wish had become a reality.  
  
"It's a girl." Xander said, his voice cracking with emotion. Angel's face lit up, and his smile grew slightly bigger, only to relax into a thin line, his angelic features dimming. And then, he closed his eyes.  
---------- 


	7. Epilogue

EPILOGUE:  
  
  
Buffy watched in silence as the casket was lowered into the ground, her long black dress waving in the winter breeze as she held the hand of a little dark-haired girl, who couldn't have been more than seven years of age. She didn't know what she should feel or how she should react. She thought of shedding tears, but knew that wasn't necessary. She felt someone stand next to her, and knew it to be Willow without looking.  
  
"It's a shame." Willow said, "He had so much potential. He was a good man. He just did things he couldn't help doing. I for one think he made up for it that night." Willow looked down as they began filling in the grave. "At least he got a proper burial, even if it did take three weeks."  
  
Buffy nodded slowly, not really listening as she looked down at the little girl, smiling slightly. "Angelina, are you cold?" At her daughter's nod, Buffy tapped Willow's shoulder to show she was leaving. Willow went over to Xander and Anya, who in turn collected everyone else - including the Angel Investigations personnel - to go with Buffy. Buffy patted Angelina's head softly. "Let's go home."  
  
After a long drive back to the Summers' residence, Buffy was finally home and glad to be there. Dawn took Angelina to the kitchen along with everyone else, while Buffy made her way up the stairs in silence. She entered her room, rubbing her neck as she unzipped the back of her dress. She felt a strange warmth as she did, recognized it, and smiled.  
  
"The doctor said you aren't supposed to be out of bed for at least two more weeks, Mr. Summers." Buffy said, nudging her back into Angel's bare chest, careful not to touch his bandaged stomach.  
  
"Angel Summers. That'll strike fear in the heart of evil. Anyway, I missed you," Angel said innocently, kissing the nape of her neck, "and I refuse to spend my honeymoon in bed."  
  
Buffy turned to face him, taking his hands and gliding his arms around her. "Oh you do, do you?" Buffy said coyly, arching an eyebrow.  
  
Angel smirked. "You know what I meant." They kissed each other tenderly for a few moments, but Angel cut it short. "I almost forgot." He made his way over to Buffy's dresser, picking up a gift-wrapped box that obviously contained a ring. He handed it to her, smiling warmly. "Go ahead. Open it."  
  
Buffy beamed and obliged, carefully removing the ribbon and paper. Once it was unwrapped, she opened the box and gasped in delight. Within the box stood her silver claddagh ring, only it had been changed somewhat. The heart had a ruby of it's shape entrenched over it, the hands sparkled from the diamonds that were upon them, and the crown gleamed, for it had been coated in gold.  
  
"Merry Christmas." Angel said, enjoying her happiness. "I thought it'd be a better version, now that we're man and wife." Buffy smiled excitedly and slipped the ring onto her finger with the heart pointing towards her, because she belonged to someone. She hugged and kissed him, both of which felt very good to be doing again.  
  
"I love you." Buffy said, looking into his eyes adoringly.  
  
Angel's smile grew wider and he kissed her lips again. "I love you too."  
  
"Oh, I have a surprise for you too!" Buffy said, going to her closet. She opened the doors, retrieving a flat, rectangular box wrapped in seasonal paper, one observably used for clothes. She offered the present to him, positively radiant when he accepted it. As he opened it, she admired the ring on her finger. He stared blankly at the article inside, unsure of how to react.  
  
"It's from all of us," Buffy said, smirking. "Our way of saying thank you."  
  
Angel dropped the box, revealing a very colorful Hawaiian shirt, palm trees and sunsets covering the fabric, as well as brilliant dyes of red, yellow, blue, and some colors Angel didn't know existed. He smiled out of consideration, looking at Buffy. "Thank you."  
  
Buffy's smile faltered a bit once she saw it. "I knew I shouldn't have let Xander pick it out."  
  
Angel just smiled and examined the shirt. "It's okay. I...like it."  
  
Buffy shrugged, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind. "It's the thought that counts."  
  
"If that's true," Angel said, tilting his head to nuzzle hers, "I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the honeymoon to Hawaii I promised."  
  
Buffy smiled contently, resting her head on the broad expanse of Angel's back, lifting her head only to kiss his tattoo. "I'd forgotten about that."  
  
"Not to sound too much like you in your pre-Slayer days," Angel said, smiling at her kisses, "but...as if."  
  
"Hey," Buffy said, kissing his back once more. "Give me some credit. We can bury that shirt if you want to."  
  
"Speaking of which," Angel replied, "how'd the funeral go?"  
  
"Good, as far as funerals go." Buffy said. "It was nice of you too arrange one for Darien."  
  
"I figured he deserved it." Angel said, lowering his head for a moment in silent remembrance.  
  
"Hey you," Buffy said, turning him around and kissing him. "No brooding. You left that behind you along with the lack of a pulse."  
  
Angel smiled. "I hear you."  
  
"Good," Buffy said, taking her dress down to her ankles so she wore nothing but her undergarments. "Now go downstairs. Your daughter wants to show you how well she can make a grilled cheese sandwich."  
  
Angel pretended to scoff as Buffy put on a pair of sweatpants. "She obviously doesn't take after her mother."  
  
Buffy counterfeited an angry look as she put on a blue baby tee, but as soon as she saw Angel looking at her, she couldn't help but smile. "You're lucky I love you."  
  
"Very." Angel stated, kissing her once more.  
  
Buffy left the room and started down the stairs. Angel was about to follow, but he stopped at the top of the staircase.  
  
"You kept the receipt for the shirt, right?"  
----------  
  
THE END 


End file.
